On Properly Reading Your Bible

David Ker over at Lingamish has written a witty and insightful post about reading the Bible in its proper context. I would encourage you to read the whole thing, but here are a few choice morsels to savor...

• The Bible isn't a fortune cookie that you can crack open and get out a pithy little message that's going to help you through the day. Instead it is a collection of books, poems, histories, tragedies and more and if you want to "apply it to your life" you've first got to consider how that particular message was meant to apply to someone else's life. That's right, the Bible wasn't written to you. It was written to the people of Israel, and Philemon, and Theophilus and the church at Corinth. But that ain't you. So you're reading someone else's mail. Or listening in on one half of a phone conversation.

• The Bible isn't meant to be treated like a bag of "trail mix" where you fish out all the sweet parts that you like and leave the rest. There are treasures in "the Book" but only if you're willing to receive the message in the way it was intended.

• God has preserved these messages over many centuries and brought it into your language. It is worth the trouble to understand his message on his terms. Its not a grab bag of moralisms, sound bites or bumper-sticker sayings. The Bible means something but not necessarily what you think it does. The truth is there, but truth taken out of context is destroyed or can be turned into a lie. Read it in the original packaging.

He ends with these important words: "The Bible wasn't written to you, but it was written for you. Read it the right way and you'll hear the voice of God."

As Go the Dutch...

Reuters is reporting that Dutch pedophiles are organizing their own political party to legalize child pornography, beastiality and lower the age of consent from 16 to 12 years old.

The Charity, Freedom and Diversity (NVD) party said on its Web site it would be officially registered Wednesday, proclaiming: "We are going to shake The Hague awake!"

The party said it wanted to cut the legal age for sexual relations to 12 and eventually scrap the limit altogether.

"A ban just makes children curious," Ad van den Berg, one of the party's founders, told the Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper.

"We want to make pedophilia the subject of discussion," he said, adding the subject had been a taboo since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in neighboring Belgium.

"We want to get into parliament so we have a voice. Other politicians only talk about us in a negative sense, as if we were criminals," Van den Berg told Reuters.

The Netherlands, which already has liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution and gay marriage, was shocked by the plan.

Why? Such actions seem quite consistent with the slippery slope the Dutch have found themselves descending since the 1960's. The same arguments advanced for legalized drugs, legal prostitution and especially gay marriage "naturally" support the pedophile cause. The case from moral relativism is easily made. If pragmatism, tolerance and human freedom are the only boundary markers left we can justify anything.

Paul saw this over 2000 years ago when he wrote in Romans:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

What particularly worries me is that the United States seems to be following the same downward spiral as the Netherlands. We are still a few sins and years behind, but picking up speed...How soon before we see just such debates and advocates in this country? Don't think it can't happen here. Who would have thought the homosexual agenda would be promoted as it is today?

I may seem a bit Don Quixotish, but I think that some windmills needs jousting. May God give us clear vision and strong hearts in the struggle ahead and may God preserve His people in these sad days!

Memorial Day 2006

Memorial Day

The bugle echoes shrill and sweet,
But not of war it sings to-day.
The road is rhythmatic with the feet
Of men-at-arms who come to pray.
The roses blossom white and red
On tombs where weary soldiers lie;
Flags wave above the honored dead
And martial music cleaves the sky.
Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel,
They kept the faith and fought the fight.

Through flying lead and crimson steel
They plunged for Freedom and the Right.
May we, their grateful children, learn
Their strengh, who lie beneath the sod,
Who went through fire and death to earn
At last the accolade of God.
In shining rank on rank arrayed
They march, the legions of the Lord;
He is their Captain unafraid,
The Prince of Peace . . . Who brought a sword.

- Joyce Kilmer

Sunday Spurgeon

Seest thou yonder thief hanging upon the cross? Behold the fiends at the foot thereof, with open mouths; charming themselves with the sweet thought, that another soul shall give them meat in hell. Behold the death-bird, fluttering his wings o'er the poor wretch's head; vengeance passes by and stamps him for her own; deep on his breast is written "a condemned sinner;" on his brow is the clammy sweat, expressed from him by agony and death. Look in his heart; it is filthy with the crust of years of sin; the smoke of lust is hanging within in black festoons of darkness; his whole heart is hell condensed. Now, look at him. He is dying. One foot seems to be in hell; the other hangs tottering in life—only kept by a nail.

There is a power in Jesus' eye. That thief looks: he whispers, "Lord, remember me." Turn your eye again there. Do you see that thief? Where is the clammy sweat? It is there. Where is that horrid anguish? It is not there. Positively, there is a smile upon his lips. The fiends of hell, where are they? There are none: but a bright seraph is present, with his wings outspread, and his hands ready to snatch that soul, now a precious jewel, and bear it aloft to the palace of the great King. Look within his heart; it is white with purity. Look at his breast; it is not written "condemned," but "justified." Look in the book of life: his name is graven there. Look on Jesus' heart: there on one of the precious stones he bears that poor thief's name. Yea, once more, look! seest thou that bright one amid the glorified, clearer than the sun, and fair as the moon? That is the thief! That is the power of Jesus; and that power shall endure for ever.

"My Disciples - The Community"

This third in a series of four messages from the "my disciples" sayings of Jesus focuses upon John 13:35. We cannot be disciples alone we need an AGAPE (love) community. An AGAPE community is one of acceptance, grace, admonition, prayer and encourgement.




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Pope Admits Hidden Message in Bible

From Scrappleface.com comes this breaking news...

(2006-05-20) — ‘The Da Vinci Code‘ has finally forced Pope Benedict XVI to release a statement admitting that the Bible contains a “veiled mystery unknown to most of the world.”

Film critics this week publicly acknowledged the release of the Ron Howard movie, based on the best-selling Dan Brown novel that blurs the line between fiction and entertainment.

Under pressure from theologians in the news media, a Vatican spokesman today admitted that the Holy Scriptures contain a hidden code, known only to a relative handful of insiders.

“Even many faithful church attenders have not yet unlocked the secret,” said the unnamed Vatican source. “Although it lies in plain sight, to understand it you must have the ability to decode a sequence of ancient letters, arranged in phonetic patterns that follow a specific grammatical template.”

When asked how an outsider with no expertise in cryptology could break the code and comprehend the secret, the Pope’s spokesman said, “To reveal the mystery, first lift the cover of the Bible. Then carefully examine all the text on the first page. Slowly turn the page. Repeat the process until the mystery becomes plain.”

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No Amnesty for the Unborn?

In a move that can at best be called ironic, at worst barbaric, Amnesty International, the world's best-known human rights organization is considering adopting policy that declares abortion is a right.

CNSNews reports: "Amnesty International's existing policy on "sexual and reproductive rights" is that it "takes no position on whether or not women have a right to choose to terminate unwanted pregnancies; there is no generally accepted right to abortion in international human rights law."

At an international council meeting in Mexico next year, Amnesty International will decide whether to abandon neutrality, declare abortion an international human right, and consequently start advocating for it."

Such a move would make a mockery of an organization that has long opposed capital punishment and claims to be a supporter of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, which reads in part: "the child ... needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth."

This is just one more glaring example of how relativism has eroded the foundation of society. It is amazing how people can hold such divergent positions on human life and yet feel no dissonance. Sadly, we live in a time when choice is enthroned as god and truth is crucified once more upon a pragmatic cross. Oh how much we will have to answer for before the judgment seat of the One whose angels behold the face of His children.

Review: The Da Vinci Code-Breaker

In a recent Reuters poll conducted in the United Kingdom, 60% of those who read The Da Vinci Code believed that Jesus did in fact father a child with Mary Magdalene. Sadly, I believe you would find similar numbers in the United States. Already an international best-seller this controversial book will open this week as a Summer blockbuster starring Tom Hanks. The potential harm this Hollywood treatment of Dan Brown's novel could wreck upon biblically illiterate minds is astounding.

In response a veritable cottage industry has sprung up to refute the claims in The DaVinci Code. As a pastor, I have reviewed many of them for use with my congregation. One of the best I have found is a new book by James Garlow (with Timothy Paul Jones and April Williams) entitled: The Da Vinci Code-Breaker. Originally intended as a glossary to Garlow's book, Cracking The Da Vinci Code (an excellent book in its own right), Garlow wisely decided to let it stand on its own.

Subtitled: An Easy To Use Fact Checker, it provides over 500 facts, definitions, biographies and theologies of all the major people, places and events referenced in the book and its related background. Arranged alphabetically, it is easy to find what you are looking for. Concise in nature, it gives the essential facts and doesn't weigh you down with needless fluff. It is very comprehensive and will supply the reader with the truth needed to confront the misguided pseudo-history of Dan Brown.

This book is an essential companion for everyone who reads the book or sees the movie. The movie is sure to raise many questions among your family and friends and this volume is a great source of quick, yet complete answers. I highly recommend The Da Vinci Code-Breaker.

This book was provided through Mind and Media, but this had no bearing on my opinions or review of this book.

An Obedience of the Heart

A little girl was bouncing up and down in the back seat of the car. Repeatedly the mother would tell her to sit down and keep still. But she kept on jumping up and down. Finally the exasperated mother grabbed her by the shoulders and sat her down in the seat, saying "You stay there." The little girl sat for a few moments then folding her arms announced to her mother, "I may be sitting down, but I'm standing up on the inside!"

"I'm standing up on the inside." Outward conformity masking an inward rebellion. How often is our Christian life like this? To outside observers we appear the models of piety while inside we are secretly wishing we could give full reign to our thoughts? Silently chafing at the demands of the faith? Keeping the commands of God because we feel we have to and not because we want to? Sitting down on the outside, but inside standing up in rebellion? If so we are playing a dangerous game. For it was outward performance and inner rebellion that so turned Jesus against the scribes and Pharisees of his day. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead man's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Matthew 23:27.28)

Proverbs 3:1 touches on the whole matter of inward and outward when Solomon writes: "My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands." There is a great spiritual truth here for the believer. What God is looking for is not outward obedience, but an obedience of the heart. God cares little if you go to church twice on Sunday, don't drink, don't swear and don't gamble; if inwardly you are bitter, backsliding and blasphemous. Our actions don't matter much if our attitude is wrong. You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can never fool God. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (I Samuel 16:7)

To those around us we may appear to be the paragons of virtue, but are there secret sins that cloud our hearts? Do we maintain our Christian persona because we love man's applause rather than God's? Are we merely social saints? Do we sit outwardly on the side of angels, only to stand up for the devil inside? If so, maybe its time we have a "heart-to-heart" talk with God. Asking him to bring our attitudes and actions together. Asking him to give us the spirit of David who cries out in Psalm 119. "Your statues are wonderful; therefore I obey them. The unfolding of you words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands. Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name. Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me."

Motherhood in Perilous Times

This message from Exodus 2:1-10 holds up Moses' mother, Jochebed as a model for mothers today. Mothers can learn from her six principles for motherhood in perilous times: 1) See Their Child As God's Sees Them 2) Shelter Their Child 3) Prepare Their Child 4) Release Their Child 5) Watch Over Their Child 6) Rejoice With Their Child.


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Sunday Spurgeon on Motherhood

O dear mothers, you have a very sacred trust reposed in you by God! He hath in effect said to you, “Take this child and nurse it for Me, and I will give thee thy wages.” You are called to equip the future man of God, that he may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. If God spares you, you may live to hear that pretty boy speak to thousands, and you will have the sweet reflection in your heart that the quiet teachings of the nursery led the man to love his God and serve Him. Those who think that a woman detained at home by her little family is doing nothing, think the reverse of what is true. Scarcely can the godly mother quit her home for a place of worship; but dream not that she is lost to the work of the church; far from it, she is doing the best possible service for her Lord. Mothers, the godly training of your offspring is your first and most pressing duty

God's Amazing Creation - The Brain

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55% of plepoe can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh?

HT: Dr. Blogstein

The Need Of The Hour

From the Kairos Journal:

Paul [wrote in 2 Timothy], “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves . . . unholy . . . without self-control . . . not lovers of the good . . . lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God . . .”

Under these circumstances, the Church would most naturally stand in stark contrast with the culture. The pastors would be prophets, their congregations, warriors. But Paul anticipated a shocking spectacle: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

As error flies all about the Church, the pulpit must become a fount of truth. If any churchman would presume to insist that the sacred desk avoid offense, then that man has gravely misunderstood both the times and the preacher’s sacred task. He needs to repent and then defend Paul’s mandate to his successors—“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”

Today's Time Waster

You're The Dictionary!

by Merriam-Webster

You're one of those know-it-all types, with an amazing amount of knowledge at your command. People really enjoy spending time with you in very short spurts, but hanging out with you for a long time tends to bore them. When folks really need an authority to refer to, however, you're the one they seek. You're an exceptional speller and very well organized.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Let The Church Arise!

"When men are projecting the Church's ruin,
God is preparing for its salvation."

This quote from Matthew Henry comes from his commentary on Exodus 2 concerning the order from Pharoah to kill the male babies of Israel. It serves as a wonderful reminder that God is still in control and that the Church is His Beloved Bride and chosen instrument for reaching the world. Throughout history men have written the obituary of the Church, but much like its Lord, it refuses to stay dead. It rises time and time again. Confounding its critics and abounding in grace. So let us not give into despair in these dark days from the dawn awaits just over the horizon. Thanks be to God!

A Review: "Help! Mom! Hollywood's In My Hamper!"

This delightful sequel to the #1 bestseller - "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed" finds author Katharine DeBrecht taking aim at Hollywood and its over-inflated view of itself. With a clever mix of humor and keen perception, she illustrates the danger of allowing one's opinions to be shaped by media darlings and self-important celebrities. Skewering the likes of Britney Spears, Madonna, and Barbra Streisand, DeBrecht teaches a valuable lesson in just being yourself.

In today's star-worshipping culture, this lesson is sorely needed, not only by children, but by adults as well. We fall too easily into the trap of equating box office appeal with wisdom. What is even more dangerous is that these stars believe they have a mission to correct the rest of us. The character Rayonna sums it up when she says: "Even though we stars live very different lives from the little people in this world, we know what is best for them."

Like "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed," this little book is a quick read. The witty prose is aided by some of the funniest illustrations I have seen, with picture cameos of some of the most recognizable and irritating celebrities out there. A delight to read and see!

The message of this book to be who you are is relevant and I hope it finds a wide audience. The author promises more in the series and I can't wait. This nation's children can use all the small lessons in conservatism it can get.

This book was provided for my review by Active Christian Media, but that in no way shaped my opinion or review.

"My Disciples: The Curriculum"

The second in a four part series looking at the "my disciples" sayings in the Gospels. This message from John 8:12-32 considers what is means to hold onto the teaching of Jesus in our heads, ours hearts and our hands.



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Sunday Spurgeon

I believe certain doctrines because God says they are true; and the only authority I have for their truth is the Word of God. I receive such and such doctrines, not because I can prove them to be compatible with reason, not because my judgment accepts them, but because God says they are true. Now this is one of the best services we can render to God,—to submit ourselves to him in our belief of what he has revealed, and ask him to fix his truths in our hearts, and make us obey them.

What Can You Do To Be Saved?

"Have I then no work to work in this great matter of my pardon? None. What work canst thou work? What work of thine can buy forgiveness or make thee fit for the Divine favor? What work has God bidden thee work in order to obtain salvation? None. His Word is very plain and easy to be understood, "To him that worketh not, but believeth in Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:5). There is but one work by which a man can be saved. That work is not thine, but the work of the Son of God. That work is finished." -Horatius Bonar

The Key To Evaluating Religious Fads

"Whatever religion or doctrine condones or makes allowances for sin is not of Christ. The Doctrine of Christ everywhere teaches self-denial and mortification of worldliness and sin. The whole stream of the gospel runs against those things. Scripture emphasizes the 'holy' and the 'heavenly' (not the sinful and the worldly). The true gospel has not even the slightest tendency to extol corrupt nature, or feed it's pride by magnifying it's freedom and power. And it rejects everything that undermines or obscures the merit of Christ, or tries to give any credit to man, in any way. And it certainly never makes the death of Christ a cloak to cover sin, but rather it always speaks of it as an instrument that destroys it!"

- John Flavel

HT: Slice of Laodicea

The Preachers We Need Today...

John Piper shared these words from the great preacher George Whitefield at the recent T4G conference. As true as they were in Whitefield's day, how much greater is the need today for just such men of God! (HT: Adrian's Blog)


"O that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty, and the holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace.

They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labour and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they shall appear before His awesome judgment seat.

They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear filled eyes and upon who’s ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit who will witness signs and wonders following and the transformation of multitudes of lives”

Demotivational Thought for the Day