Categories
human rey's a point study

Be Careful With Kisses

kisses

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

This saying, a proverb, highlights a problem that was happening 2500 years ago and is still happening today: people mis-diagnose relationships.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that the proverb is a rule about all relationships. To understand the saying, you have to understand how proverbs work.

A proverb is like key that you use on a specific door. You can’t apply them for every single situation. So that makes the Book of Proverbs like a huge keychain with a bunch of keys. You have to find the right situation to apply the saying.

This is why sometimes they sound (but are not really) contradictory.

For instance: Proverbs 26:4 says “Don’t answer a fool according to his folly” while Proverbs 26:5 says “Answer a fool according to his folly”!

Categories
philosophy pray

Does God Hear Sinners?

hearsinners-01

This is one of those questions that, at first blush, have an easy answer. Some folk might automatically say, “Yes, surely God hears sinners. God loves his children!” Others might respond “Of course not: God is holy!”

The question “Does God hear sinners” is actually very complex not because of the terms (we’ll look at that in a second), or hidden assumptions in the question, but because of the unknown baggage carried in by the questioner.  Who knows what’s the theological ideas behind it and, nowadays, theological common ground can’t be assumed.

All that being the case, I want to look at the large network of ideas that undergird this issue by addressing it in at least three levels: philosophically, Biblically, and theologically.

Categories
stump

How To Study Your E-Bible

A series covering how to study with digital resources.

  1. How To Read An E-Bible For Studying
  2. How to Read A Bible Outside Your Comfort Zone
  3. How To Do A Parallel Bible Reading
  4. How To Take E-Notes
  5. How To Come Up With Your Own Bible Headings
  6. How To Do A Word Study
  7. Why Use A Commentary
  8. How to Buy A Commentary
  9. How To Use A Commentary
  10. Case Study: Best Commentaries for Studying Romans
  11. Thinking Theologically About Taking Notes
  12. How to Take Notes
  13. Do You Really Need to Take Notes?
Categories
human religion rey's a point

Belated Response to the Declaration of Independence

decl

Dearest Representatives of the united States of America;

We have received your letter declaring your absolving of all allegiance to the British Crown and we have a few belated issues.

We noticed that your claims consistently made claims to a Supreme Judge, which, by common consent, we can’t deny or support that he-it-or-she exists.

Indeed, you call this Supreme Judge the Creator and the God of Nature when we both agree that random natural processes over an infinite time is the proper teaching of what works behind nature. We must not call nature a “creation”. Calling it Creation assumes a creator, which we can not support or deny as existing.

Be that as it may, like you we agree that there should be a separation of Church and State. Since your decision is so fraught with religious considerations, it has no rational or scientific basis. Your position has no proper justification. And since a ruling can only stand if your proper (British) governor agrees, then your collective decision is simply overturned by default.

It is also obvious that your claims to ephemeral absolutes—like what is wholesome and necessary for the public good, or of self-evident truths, or even unalienable rights—are merely the marks of an oppressive fiction geared towards controlling others in your obvious effort in non-tolerance. We stand for freedom for all and that includes freedom from your specifically religious and biggoted claims.

So we must solemnly decline your request for independence. Ask your own judges and intelligentsia. They would agree with us.

Over You, Truly,

The British Crown.

July 4th, 2013

Categories
metas & memes

Christian Carnival 453

Boom! Christian Carnival 453 is UP!

Submissions

“That’s how I met Denise. Many attendees just want to gather their “”freebies””, food and leave. But Denise needed to talk, so I listened.” Totinh Baggage in Lakeside Lessons

Bob has been considering strategies for memorizing all the psalms of the Hebrew Psalter.

Jeremy Pierce writes “Abortion rights are sometimes taken to be based on an absolute right to refuse the unexpected obligation of caring for one’s own child, but we don’t generally take that right to apply in other cases, particularly with fathers and child support.”

This blog post details how I was lead to Christ through a philosophy course in college. It is apologetic in nature, but is also personal. It will help people to see the relevance of philosophy in bringing some people to the faith, and helping them to come to maturity.

Jennifer Vaughn-Estrada “Christians generally admit that the Gospel of Judas reveals information about ancient gnostic heretical ideas, but that’s where its apparent reliability stops. Is it possible that its writers, flawed in their theology as they were, nevertheless condemned real moral sin and corruption that had infiltrated the Early Church?”

Lenny Esposito notes: Many times I hear from homosexual advocates that homosexuality must be natural because zoologists have observed animals performing homosexual behavior in the wild. This type of reasoning is as preposterous as it is inconsistent.

Mikel interviews a leading expert on the historical Jesus: Dr. Darrell Bock. You’ll learn an accessible way to explain orality in the New Testament, respond to the claim that there were many Messiahs in Jesus’ day, and discover and how to proceed in a spiritual conversation with someone who rejects the idea of Jesus’ Resurrection.

Rick Burns notes God’s Surprises saying “Let’s face it – it’s astonishing that God allows us to be part of what He’s doing on our planet, and He saves some things uniquely for us.”

“There is an argument against the existence of God based upon the problem of pain/evil/suffering. It goes like this: “If God is both good and all-powerful, then He would not allow evil in His creation. Evil exists: therefore, God is either not good, or He is not all-powerful.” Author and pastor Randy Alcorn fires a broadside into that argument with his excellent book, “The Goodness of God.”

How could God allow the Brook to dry up on His faithful prophet? This and many other questions like this flood our minds when we face difficulties. How could God allow such things to happen to us?

You are seated in heavenly places in Christ. The supernatural is natural for a Christian.

It was a miracle that three year old Colton Burpo even survived a ruptured appendix. But what was more miraculous were the stories he began telling in the months and years following his near-death encounter, stories that would make his pastor father scratch his head in wonder and awe. Heaven is for Real book review.

Highways and Bi-Ways

Rebecca writes “We enter the world spiritually dead… . Remember the story of the children of Hamelin who were led away by the magic sound of the Pied Piper’s flute? Someone spiritually dead is a little like that. They are marching along to the music of evil inner powers. They march willingly, but at the same time, the attraction is so strong that they cannot turn away…” in Out of the Ordinary.

Carson wonders if Atheism is a religion.

Challies has a bunch of links in today’s A La Carte. Especially links to kindle deals.

Jason highlights how Calvinism doesn’t kill Evangelism.

A mom sharing her struggles.

Lovin’ minecraft.

Digital Sojourner links to a John Lennox video.

Your Host

I get all metaphorical with Rainbows and Promises, someone looks through the prose and gets into a discussion with me about homosexuality.

Past carnivals can be found here in the archive. Next month, submit your posts here. More about the Christian Carnival here.