OUR CHRISTIAN BLOG - Page 5

Hurricane Ike

Posted: September 13, 2008 - 20:54 CT

I'm writing this as Hurricane Ike, now downgraded to a tropical storm passes east of us.  We getting some wind gust up to 50mph and lots of rain, but nothing compared to the folks in the Galveston and Houston areas.  We've had visitors from Galveston the past few days, but some of their relatives decided to ride it out.  We're asking for prayer for the residents of these areas, including south Louisiana, and for the search and rescue workers.  We commend all the workers helping with the relief efforts. 

Most of the country is also thankful for the various Christian agencies involved.  It seems the only time that the liberals keep quiet about the so-called separation of Church and state is during disasters.  I once heard Christians compared to Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry character.  Whenever there was a situation that the government couldn't handle, they were glad to see Dirty Harry on the job, but when things were back under control, he was treated as a outcast. 

It's too bad it usually takes an emergency to bring people together.  When a rescue worker or volunteer encounters someone in trouble, he or she doesn't see them as black or white, Republican or Democrat, only as a person in need.  How much better could our country be if we carried this attitude over into our normal lives?

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Beijing Olympics 2008 - Going for the Gold

Posted: August 26, 2008 - 20:39 CT

For the past couple of weeks, the world’s focus has been on 29th Olympiad from Beijing, China. Despite the deceptions by the Chinese government during the opening ceremonies, and the usual controversies with the judges, it generally has been fun to watch. The networks seemed to do a better job this year also, actually showing some of the events rather than endless profiles of the participants. That said, the highlight for me was the special feature by Mary Carillo on Eric Liddell, the Scottish missionary who was born in China and competed for Great Britain at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France. He is best remembered for the 100 meter event that he didn’t run, withdrawing because it would require running on the Sabbath. He was able to switch events with teammate Harold Abrahams (who went on to win the 100 meters) and Eric won the 400 meters in world record time, a huge upset. He ran the race clutching a sheet of paper that someone slipped into his hand at the start of the race which said “Those who honor me I will honor” (1Sam 2:30). His Olympic triumph was portrayed in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire. At the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Scotsman Allan Wells became the first winner from Britain in the 100 meter dash since Abrahams in 1924. When asked after the victory if he had run the race for Harold Abrahams, Wells replied, "No, this one was for Eric Liddell."

Upon completion of the Olympics, Eric began his life's work as a missionary to China, following in his parents footsteps. After the Japanese invaded China, and the British government strongly urged its citizens to leave, Eric elected to stay, but sent his wife and children back to safety. Eric was imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp in 1943, where he developed a brain tumor that was inoperable under his current conditions. In spite of tremendous pain, he maintained his faith and continued to be an inspiration for others before dying in January 1945 at the age of 43, shortly before the camp was liberated. In 1991, a memorial headstone was erected by Edinburgh University at Liddell's previously unmarked grave in Weifang. The stone’s inscription (from the book of Isaiah) read "They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary."

Read the entire Going for the Gold article.

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A Ministry Update - Summer 2008

Posted: August 20, 2008 - 19:06 CT

OK, I'm back again.  I've spent the last few weeks working overtime on several projects on my regular job.  I did find some time to research and study for future articles, and have several writings in progress.  We also continually pray and seek God's direction for our website ministry, and He has often changed what we thought were our best plans at the time.  I'm writing this to keep our readers up to date on what we've been planning and working on, as well as to remind myself what I need to do.

When we launched this website about 20 months ago, we had big plans to offer a wide variety of Christian and family-friendly topics of interest.  In some ways, we've accomplished this, but it has slowly dawned on us that there are only so many hours in the day.  Our plans are far outpacing our time and abilities.  Realistically, it will take a few years to complete and load what we've currently planned.  We've therefore attempted to establish some priorities, subject to being open to the Spirit's leading.

We'll continue to work on our other features, but our top priority continues to be promoting Biblical literacy though our study guides, reading plans, commentaries, articles and theological writings.  We'll soon begin loading the last major section of our Bible Study Guide, the Book by Book Bible Interpretation Guide, and hope to finish by the end of the year.  We'll also be loading many classical Christian writings by some giants of the faith.

With the goal of freeing up more time for our Biblical studies, one action item will require some shifting in our Cultural section.  We've often found ourselves duplicating the efforts of some other fine organizations, so we plan to modify our cultural section to include links to these cultural sites.  We'll continue to post a few timeless articles related to critical issues of our day in addition to writing about social, political and cultural issues in our blog.

We maintain that all Christians should be involved in the political and cultural aspect of our society, but believe that lasting change is brought about much more effectively by changing hearts than through legislation.  For example, prohibition in America, while well-intended and commendable,  did little or nothing to reduce the consumption of alcohol, while in England, under the preaching of George Whitefield and others, bars closed due to lack of customers.  Thus, on the issue of abortion, we should fight for legislation to protect the unborn children, but spreading the Gospel to perspective parents would be much more effective in the long run.

Unless God changes our plans again, look for a couple of new sections this fall.  The first will examine the Christian roots of America, including our founding fathers, the Puritans and Pilgrims, original documents, separation of Church and State and much more.  The second section began as a simple book review of The Shack, but as I continued to research the book, the author and publisher, the endorsers etc, the project grew into something much larger.  I began to realize that the book was also a product of our modern society and beliefs, not unlike some of the other religious best sellers of the past few years.  We'll investigate some of the issues that these books raise and compare them with the Bible and other Christian literature of the past.

Other additions planned for the near future are a Scripture Memory section, a New Christian Guide, and adding paragraph headings to our online Bible with tie-ins to our commentaries.  We also have dozens of half-written articles which we hope to finish and load soon.  We greatly appreciate your input, since one of the ways that God speaks is through other Christians.

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Happy Independence Day

Posted: July 5, 2008 - 23:51 CT

On this holiday weekend, we celebrate our American independence, or at least most of us do.  Each year, we're bombarded by articles from the "Blame America First" media telling us that this should be a time of mourning rather than a time of celebration for being an American.  I think first prize this year should go to Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Chris Satullo for his article A not-so-glorious Fourth (link has since been removed by the Inquirer).  The gist of the article is that America does not deserve a July Fourth celebration this year because of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, CIA secret prisons, and of course, the unforgivable fact that we elected George Bush president. 

Mr Satullo's article begins "Put the fireworks in storage.  Cancel the parade.  Tuck the soaring speeches in a drawer for another time.  This year, America doesn't deserve to celebrate its birthday.  This Fourth of July should be a day of quiet and atonement. For we have sinned."  So, how did we sin?  Was it by taking prayer out of schools, activist judges making a mockery of our constitution by finding the right to murder unborn babies, or re-writing history to remove God's name and providence?  Not according to Mr Satullo, who sees our biggest sin as reacting to the cold bloodied murder of several thousand of our own citizens in New York City.  He then hits the leftist talking points such as torturing prisoners, then (for those wondering when his Bush Derangement Syndrome would kick in) states  "We have done such things, on orders from the Oval Office.  We have done them, without general outrage or shame".

Read the entire Happy Independence Day post.

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Sports and the Christian

Posted: June 26, 2008 - 21:23 CT

This blog entry will expand on some comments received from a reader in response to our recent Boston Celtics article.  The primary themes from this article was perspective and priorities.  It is certainly acceptable to admire the abilities of great athletes (and men and women of other professions), but we must not follow the sports writer's habits of ascribing deity on them.  As I'm writing this, the Dallas Morning News published a picture of the women gymnasts who had just qualified for the Olympic games.  Above the picture in big bold letters stretching across the page was the headline "The Anointed Ones".

In 1998, the world watched as Mark McGuire, Gen Griffey Jr and Sammy Sosa were all on pace to break the Major League Baseball single season home run record (60 home runs) set by Roger Maris of the Yankees in 1927.  The media spectacle increased as the lead swung back and forth almost daily.  Griffey dropped out with an injury and McGuire eventually claimed the record with 70 home runs (broken four years later when Barry Bonds hit 73) with Sosa finishing with 66.  This was very exciting to watch, but I couldn't help making a comparison.  One man hits a cowhide covered ball over a fence and we cheer wildly.  Another comes from heaven to be born in a manger, live a perfectly sinless life, die on a cross for our sins so that we can have eternal life, is physically resurrected, ascends back into heaven to sit at the right hand of God to make intercession for us... and we often yawn.  Where are our priorities?

Read the entire Sports and the Christian article.

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Boston Celtics - 2008 NBA Champs

Posted: June 18, 2008 - 22:13 CT

Ok, I'm back.  I've been busy this past couple of months researching America's Christian Heritage and should start writing on this new section soon.  I must confess that I've also been a bit occupied (like every year about this time) with the NBA playoffs.  No, I don't think the games are fixed, but are "weighted" somewhat in favor of the teams with the stars.  After all, shoe companies paying millions of dollars to the players and for television advertisements don't want to see their stars go out in the first round.  The league doesn't want to see a sweep when they can sell tickets for a full seven game series.  I also think Vince McMahon would be a natural replacement as commissioner when David Stern retires.  That said, though I don't watch much television, I rarely miss the football or basketball playoffs, even after the Green Bay Packers or Dallas Mavericks have been eliminated.  I do usually get in some studies during halftime and commercials.

First off, congratulations to the Boston Celtic organization on a great season and series victory over the Lakers.  Most of their accolades are well deserved, but I couldn't help being a bit disappointed with the usual media worship of the players, attempting to elevate them to the status of deity.  This blog entry is not written to put a damper on the Celtics' accomplishments or their fans' celebration.  I believe the Apostle Paul might have been a sports fan.  In several of his Biblical letters, he compares the purposeful life of a Christian to athletic competitions ("running the good race" etc).  I am writing merely to offer some perspective.

Read the entire Boston Celtics post.

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Dr Jerry Vines - John 3:16

Posted: May 18, 2008 - 16:44 CT

I had the awesome blessing and privilege to hear Jerry Vines speak at Prestonwood Baptist in Plano, Texas this morning.  Dr Vines delivered one of the two finest sermons that I've recently heard on John 3:16 (the other was by Max Lucado a few months earlier). 

I spent much of 2003 and 2004 in Jacksonville, Florida designing transmission and distribution facilities for the electrical utility company.  I flew back to Texas every other weekend, but on the weekends I stayed, the highlight of my week was hearing Dr Vines while he was the senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Jacksonville.   He is an old-fashioned preacher who is not afraid to ruffle the devil's feathers.  He served two terms as President of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1988 and 1989, and was succeeded by Jack Graham, senior pastor of Prestonwood.  Dr Vines retired from fulltime preaching in 2006 and now runs Jerry Vines Ministries.  He is currently a member of FBC in Woodstock, Georgia .  I highly recommend going to hear him if he comes to your community.

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