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Showing posts from October, 2012

Christianity and Women Part 2

I recently wrote about some of the characters in the Bible that illustrate how highly Christianity views women , and in this post I want to look at some of the instructions that are given in regards to women today. As a wife a woman has a unique call and office to hold. How does God’s Word instruct the husband to deal with his wife? For starters, he is told to view her for what she is: a priceless treasure. “An excellent wife, who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” Proverbs 31:10 That same chapter tells the husband that he is to recognize and appreciate his wife’s character, not just her beauty: “Her husband also…praises her: ‘ Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:28-30 The New Testament gives further instruction for how the husband is to treat his bride. The Apostle Paul, who himself never married, was

Epistle Christians

     I believe that an alarming number of Christians today fit into a category that I call “Epistle Christians.” If you were to ask these people how much they know about the Bible, they would probably affirm that they are quite familiar with it. But if you were to push a little further, you might find that their knowledge of the Bible is confined to little more than just the epistles.      The epistles are the New Testament books of the Bible that were specifically written to churches. These books include the writings of Paul, Jude, Peter, and John (not including John’s Gospel) [1] . These epistles are certainly books that Christians should study, for on their pages are many instructions that directly apply to us today. But my fear is that many are settling for this as the extent of their Bible study.      Obviously I am not implying that Epistle Christians don’t know anything outside of the epistles. They probably know portions of the Sermon on the Mount, excerpts from the G

Surviving Middle School, Killing Sunday School

In 2009 UnKommon Media and Interlinc published a book by Pastor Rick Bundschuh (Kauai Christian Fellowship, Kauai, Hawaii) called Surviving Middle School (A Hilarious Guide That Will Help You Avoid Being A Dork). I received the book from Interlinc because, at the time, I was a member of their organization that sends CDs, books, and other media-related resources to people in student ministry.      I read the book in 2009, and I was so appalled by what I read that I cancelled my membership. The book got shuffled around and eventually lost in my junk drawer, and I just recently re-discovered it. When I did, I was reminded about the book’s content, and wanted to share a quick reason why I think books like this are killing some ministries.      While the book doesn’t say this, I assume that the purpose is for me to use it in student ministry. The author says that he is writing to middle schoolers (or junior high students), but the book is being sent to those of us that work with stu

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day

On September 26, 2006, the House of Representatives voted on House Concurrent Resolution #222. This vote gave Congressional support to what is now known as National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day every October 15 th . For years people who suffered through pregnancy and child loss mourned in silence. Many people believed that this was only a private matter never to be discussed in public. Women who miscarried were expected to quickly get on with their lives, no different than getting over a cold. But in recent years this has changed, thanks in part to October 15 th . This effort has helped raise awareness of how common and painful child loss really is. All the science shows us that the life that is forming inside the mother is unique, a living person who is genetically complete with his own DNA and fingerprints. To lose a child in this way is just as damaging as losing any other loved one. So this October 15 th , if you have lost a child, we are inviting you to joi

Evidence for Creation Part 2

In Tom DeRosa’s informative little book he takes evolution head on. He shows how the fossil record continually disproves Darwin’s theories, and how evolutionists are so desperate for proof that they continually make fraudulent findings. But I want to concentrate on just two parts from his book: cells and DNA. Cells, as we know, are microscopic. Thanks to advances in our equipment we are now better able to study cells under microscopes, whereas Darwin and his early cohorts were not able to. Darwin theorized that cells evolved early, and that over time they built upon themselves to eventually give us the human race. One-celled organisms had to have been the first living things to evolve. But now we know that cells are far too complicated to have simply evolved or to be the product of random chance. Consider the flagellum, which is the tail-like structure that propels bacterial cells. The flagellum is comprised of hundreds of types of proteins, and it work

Evidence for Creation Part 1

Continuing with the series on creation science, I want to share some things from the book Evidence for Creation by Tom DeRosa (Coral Ridge Ministries). However, this first blog over the book will not focus on the content so much, but on some of the quotes from other sources in the book. I want to simply show some of the quotes from leading scientist from different fields. In essence, I will let these scientists’ words defend themselves against the modern day notion that Christians don’t understand science. “If one considers the matter right, Natural Philosophy, after God’s Word, the surest medicine for superstition, and also the most approved nourishment of Faith. And so she is rightly given to Religion as a most faithful handmaiden; the one manifesting the will of God, the other His power.”                                                                         --Francis Bacon                                                                         Father

Grace

I was excited to get to review Max Lucado’s new book Grace because he is a person that I have always admired from a writing standpoint. I have most of his books, literally dozens of them, and I credit him as one of the influences in my life toward Christian writing. The topic of his book Grace is obvious; it’s right there in the title. But here is a more specific glimpse of the topic from the author himself: “Here’s my hunch: we’ve settled for wimpy grace. It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign. Never causes trouble or demands a response. When asked, ‘Do you believe in grace?’ who could say no? This book asks a deeper question: Have you been changed by grace?” Max uses the biblical narratives of Ruth and Naomi, the woman caught in adultery, Barabbas, David and Bathsheba, the foot washing in the Upper Room, and others to illustrate grace in the Bible. In addition to biblical characters, Lucado uses his gift as a storyt