The Reformed Fundamentalist

Adapting to the Mission

2009-01-08T12:08:00.002-05:00

What is your mission? Does it involve sacrifice or are you just trying to eek each day out? As Christians our mission is glorify God in everything we do. This may take on different faces in each person's life. Some may be called to preach, some may be called to build houses, but at the end of the it is your mission to glorify God.

Recently at work, an interesting event took place that showed me how some have a slight misconception of the mission. A lady was sitting at a table when a coworker of mine walked to see how she was doing. And then it happened, the lady at the table told my co-worker how she needed Jesus(which is a good thing), and then proceeded to tell her to repeat the prayer of easy-believism(which does not make you saved). After my co-worker followed these steps the customer pronounced my co-worker to be "born-again".

Two days after these events transpired, my co-worker told she a funny story to tell. She proceeded to tell me the aforementioned story and then asked me what I thought. I told her a mere prayer of that nature does not make you a Christian, but belief in Jesus and his sacrifice for your sins and repentance of your sin would be a better start. We then meandered into a small biblical conversation for the next 15 minutes, at which she requested a Bible, so she could read it.

The above event one example of living a life on mission. I've worked at the same joint for two years and this girl had never engaged in any type of spiritual conversation. I asked her later why she decided to ask me these questions. It was because she observed me at work and knew I was a Christian. She said she was more willing to trust what I said about Jesus then some random lady.

Why do I give this example? In certain Christian circles, there seems to an impetus to get out and win as many converts as you can, as if we are in some wild game. Though it is a good idea to want to see converts, if you are only doing it to generate numbers as it appears this lady was doing, you are missing the boat. Our sole purpose on earth is glorify God, through God's glorification people will see our love. It may take one day to see a convert or it could take 5 years, as in the case of Adoniram Judson. No matter the case, don't get caught up if you aren't see any converts, make sure the life you lead is to God's glory and to His mission and God will take care of the rest.

*As a side note, Judson's first convert came 5 years into his ministry. 10 years later he was up to only 18 . Shortly after his death, it is estimated there were nearly 210,000 Burmese who had placed their faith in Christ alone.

Back from the dead?!?!

2009-01-06T02:58:00.001-05:00

tomorrow or today since it is now 3:01 am, there will be a forthcoming post entitled loosely, "Adapting to the Mission"..stay tuned it should be up by the mid afternoon unless I fall asleep in the street....

Faith of the Founding Father's

2008-08-07T08:42:00.002-04:00

It has been said in various Christian circles that well over 90% of the founding fathers were born-again Christians. To me that just sounded like an absurdly high number. So, I thought I would do a little peaking around and see what I could come up with. For a disclaimer, I believe the word "founding father" gets tossed around a bit much, as there were different signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Articles of Confederation. For the purposes of this blog, I will only be referencing the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Now for the fun to begin. For the purposes of time and length I am only going to include the signers who seem to be a bit sketchy in regards to their Christian faith.

John Adams the 2nd president of the USA was most definitely not a Christian. He was nothing more than a universalist who rejected the Triune God. Below are a few quotes ascribing him to this belief. You can find a great deal of these quotes in a this book.

In correspondence with Jefferson, we see why Adams was definitely not a Christian,

"θέμίς was the Goddess of honesty, Justice, Decency, and right; the Wife of Jove, another name for Juno. She presided over all oracles, deliberations and Counsells. She commanded all Mortals to pray to Jupiter, for all lawful Benefits and Blessings.

Now, is not this, (so far forth) the Essence of Christian devotion? Is not this Christian Piety? Is it not an Acknonowledgement [sic] of the existence of a Supream Being? of his universal Providence? of a righteous Administration of the Government of the Universe? And what can Jews, Christians, or Mahometans do more?"

Next up will be Thomas Jefferson....

Some random thoughts on James

2008-07-29T19:04:00.002-04:00

While driving to work on Monday, I was mentally shuffling through some info. I spoke about on Sunday. For those who are unaware I preached on James 2:14-26. I started to think about Abraham and the faith he displayed while carting Isaac up Mount Moriah to be sacrificed. And it struck me. Would we have that type of faith in that situation? At first, I would be inclined to say no, but after a little bit of mental juggling I've come to the conclusion that everybody would have that faith. My reason for this line of thinking is: Abraham's faith was slowly refined. First, God said he would give him a son. Then, many years later Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac. He may thought this to be crazy, but his faith had matured so much he knew to trust God.(Probably similar in the way Noah trusted God, when he was told to build an Ark).
On a personal level, how does this apply? We may know people(or it could be ourselves) who are thinking God has great plans for us, but it is our failure to have faith in the little things that doesn't allow us to accomplish great things. If we can't trust God to help us when silly mundane trials arise, why should God trust us to do the Christ-honoring thing when great trials arise.
If you can't control your anger when you spill grape juice on the carpet, how are you going to control your anger someone slanders you in front of non-Christian friends?
If you don't have patience to deal with traffic, how are you going to have patience with your own children?
Some of these examples may seem far reaching, but the point I'm trying to drive home is if you ask for patience, or wisdom, or mercy, or kindness, expect something to come up to determine whether you look to Jesus to get you through the trial. Or whether you fall into the seductions of Satan!

The Myth of the Founding Fathers

2008-07-24T10:54:00.002-04:00

I know I haven't posted in a bit, but it is soon coming. I'm working on a piece refutes the idea that 97% percent of our founding fathers were Christians. Why would I do this you say? Well stay tuned and find.

A new candidate

2008-07-19T03:31:00.001-04:00

Some zany ideas

2008-06-26T00:03:00.004-04:00

What, two blogs in one night...why yes it is my friends. Just like the double features of the bygone days.
While I was sitting in church on Sunday at Mars Hill listening to another fine sermon by Mark Driscoll, a Wu-Tang Clan song came to mind. The title of the song was entitled C.R.E.A.M. and the course went a little something like this, "Cash, Rules, Everything, Around, Me. /C.R.E.A.M./Get the money/Dollar, dollar bill, ya'll." And before everyone blows me up for the Wu-Tang Clan for popping into my head during church let me explain a little further. The sermon was on God gives, and Driscoll was detailing how we as Christians have become poor stewards of God's possessions. Instead of serving the Jesus, we takes jobs that give us a little extra "breathing" room. For what...a new car... a member ship to the health club....new carpet....a redone kitchen...a new tv(that is something I am guilty of)...fancy new clothes...name brand groceries...Truth be told we are guilty, one time or another, living by Wu-Tang's Clan credo of C.R.E.A.M. Though none of the above mentioned things are in of themselves wrong, I am issuing a challenge to detail your budgets and try and document everything you spend. And see if you are being a good steward. Stewardship is not about just tithing, it is about using everything God gave you for His glory. I myself have fallen way short in this area. I buy mt. dew like I'm preparing for the decimation of the world. I treat Christmas, as though the stores are going to suddenly run out of toys. I fill my kids closets as though I was preparing on becoming a Mormon. Boys and Girls, take inventory and see if you are being a good steward.

On a long side note, during the sermon a couple of other ideas popped into my head. I will relay them. They are need of some serious fine tuning. Here they are any rate.
One idea is to implement as soon as possible a ministry where the people of the church, give(with a gracious heart of course:) $10-$25 or more a week, bi-weekly, monthly,etc. to a ministry that would be involved in helping out the community. Some facets of this ministry would include, at the beginning stages: Providing thanksgiving meals to families in need, providing a "good" Xmas for the single-moms with kids or families who are in dire straits, putting jackets on kids during the cold Philly winters, etc. As the ministry grows, I would like to see it include chipping in on the bill on those with medical needs, taking some stress off the single moms by taking/giving her a day at the spa(or whatever she likes to do) and taking the kids to theme park, a museum, etc.

The second idea involved challenging the church members to go through possessions and see what they don't use from toys to clothes to tools to cribs and gather them up and starting up a thrift type of store for the needy. The only catch is I want this store not look like your typical musty, thrift. I would like to see clothes clean and on hangars or folded nicely. I would like the toys in working order and not beat up. Though people can donate what they want I would like to this the person "in-charge" sifting through the stuff to make sure it works, it clean, etc. And best of all everything is going to be free.

Anyway, those were just a couple of random thoughts, if you have any suggestion throw them my way. Or if you know someone who does this type of ministry throw them my way.

Organic Gospel

2008-06-25T23:31:00.002-04:00

Organic Gospel , you say? Maybe you're thinking I was in Seattle a little too long and was affected a bit too much by some second-hand reefer smoke. Alas, that is not the case. This thought did pop into my noggin' while I was out in lovely Pacific Northwest. You see, everywhere I turned in Seattle something was organic. From coffee to ice cream. From hair gel to toilet paper(Sheryl Crow would be happy). I'm pretty sure if you needed something organic you can find it in the best city in America. Or you could just ask my sister, as she seems to have fallen into the religiosity of organicism.
Something popped into my melon while I was searching in vain for a nice piece of cooked cow,with bacon, extra cheese, a load of bbq sauce and some greasy fries. How many churches out there today fall away from the "organic" gospel. And when I say organic gospel I'm referring the no-nonsense bible-preaching gospel of yesteryear. A time when Charles Spurgeon would stand up and blast from the pulpit,

“Avoid a sugared gospel as you would shun sugar of lead. Seek that gospel which rips up and tears and cuts and wounds and hacks and even kills, for that is the gospel that makes alive again. And when you have found it, give good heed to it. Let it enter into your inmost being. As the rain soaks into the ground, so pray the Lord to let his gospel soak into your soul.”

It seems as though the church by and large has lost sight of this. I believe the time is now to get back to the "organic" gospel. Too much time has been wasted offering a fast-food, thrill of the moment, drive-in theater version of the gospel. The gospel must penetrate. It must be painful. It must kill. If it doesn't than then all we have become are double-whopper eating fat bastards, who obviously don't give a rip about Jesus.

If I were Satan...

2008-06-12T11:11:00.003-04:00

If I were Satan, I would create dissension among the rank and file,
I would make them argue to the point of them calling each other vile.
I would have men create systems of knowledge to displace God's Word,
In doing so, I can make the Christians begin to abscond
From the Blood Atonement which should be their common bond,
I can stir up controversy, so they hurl verbal bombs,
I will create disunity over music, worship, and dress,
Then they can plant this pseudo-knowledge as a badge of honor firmly onto their chest.

I will split them into sects, to inject a little more pride,
So they will rely less on Jesus, and more on man's lies.
If I do this my followers will see,
The Followers of Him are not of love as they claim to be.
Rather they are just like my cohorts,
Who seek to displace God's authority.

If I were Satan, I would turn Jesus into a Son of malice and hate,
If I do this I will make people curse their so-called fate.
If I can I accomplish this untenable task,
I shall be able to mask,
The Love I know God has for them,
The Love that I forsook so long ago.

Sifting through the Sewage: Pentacostalism

2008-06-03T20:46:00.002-04:00

Sometimes late at night when I'm surfing channels on the boob tube, I search for shows having a bit of a humorous bent. Sure, there are funny shows such as the Family Guy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Flight of the Conchords. For my money, nothing is funnier than watching the nonsense that flows out of TBN. From Benny Hinn to T.D. Jakes these dudes claim to be prophets of God and Bible-believing Christians. If only they read their Bible, maybe they could be Bible-believing Christians. Most of their nonsense would be funny if it were not so heretical.
Exhibit A- Oneness Theoolgy
This is basically a cute word for modalism. Within this is the belief is the idea that tongues is necessary sign for salvation,a denial of the pre-existence of Christ, a belief that Jesus was Himself the Father.
To say that tongues is necessary for salvation is utter horse crap! Just cursory glance at Scripture(Eph. 2:8-9) shows that is through grace and that sign of a believer is the sanctification by the Spirit that takes place.(2 Thess. 2:13)
On the pre-existence of Christ, I suppose they should check out John 1:1, and then try and defend the B.S. they pass off as Christianity.
To refute the position that Jesus was Himself the Father, I would like to kindly point out that Jesus is never once explicitly called the Father in the New Testament, while oddly enough there are the Father is referred to be distinct from Jesus over 200 times.

Exhibit B- Here are some quotes taken from some these great men of god(And yes, I am aware that I used a lower case "g")!
Benny Hinn - "Jesus Christ knew the only way he would stop Satan was by becoming one in nature with him."
Joyce Meyer -"There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell."
And Kenneth Copeland -"When Jesus cried "It is finished!" He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. There were still three days and nights to go through before He went to the throne. He was referring to the Abrahamic Covenant. Jesus' death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption. He accepted the sin nature of Satan in His own spirit. And at that moment that He did so He cried, 'My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?' You don't know what happened at the cross. Why do you think Moses, upon instruction of God, raised the serpent upon that pole instead of a lamb? That use to bug me. I said, 'Why in the world would you want to put a snake up there - the sign of Satan? Why didn't you put a lamb on that pole?' And the Lord said, 'Because it was a sign of Satan that was hanging on the cross.' He said, 'I accepted in my own spirit, spiritual death; and the light was turned off'"

Well, if you're willing to follow their line of thinking, then you might as well throw atonement in the crapper. Without Jesus shedding His blood on the Cross for our sin, we have no Salvation. And without salvation, we might as well grab a shotgun and blow off our head, because life no longer has any meaning.

Unity?!?!

2008-06-01T21:27:00.003-04:00

Is there a necessity of church unity today? I do not refer to the unity of believers in specific church setting, such as a baptist, methodist, presbyterian. etc. I am referring specifically to the unity of believers as a whole in the body of Christ. Why do I bring this up? For a couple of reasons, It seems within the context of Christianity we have all these quarrels and other nonsensical debates that ramble on yet do not edify anyone, but rather serve to create strife in the church community. Some examples off the top of my head are churches that refuse to associate with other churches on the basis of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Here's a news flash I think if God wanted to do away with the gifts he would have put it in the Word. As far as the other side, there are rules to which gifts are to be used.
Another example is constant haggling over Arminianism vs. Calvinism, I personally think this issue has been one major issues that has caused much of the disunity among believers.
My point in bringing this up, is that these are second hand issues that have no place in competing with the main purpose of glorifying God, which is our sole purpose. When it comes right down to the brass tacks, should make a difference if John MacArthur were to speak at Mars Hill in Seattle, or does it matter if Driscoll were to speak at MacArthur's church? Do they not believe in the same Jesus. The same Jesus who calls us to repentance.
While it is fun to discuss these second hand issues in civil discourse. Once the gloves come off and you start distancing yourself from fellow believers, because they don't think like you think. You have not only done a disservice to other Christians, you have caused unbelievers to view us as a bunch of jackasses. All because you're "brilliant" application of the Scripture doesn't jive with the other "heathen" Christians.

Prosperity Gospel Ummasked

2008-05-22T08:58:00.000-04:00

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A fine quote on justification and sanctification

2008-05-18T23:55:00.000-04:00

"I would humbly suggest that we are apt to overlook the doctrine of growth in grace, and that we do not sufficiently consider how very far a person may go in a profession of religion, and yet have no grace, and be dead in God's sight after all . . . I have no desire to make an idol of holiness. I do not wish to dethrone Christ, and put holiness in His place. But I must candidly say I wish sanctification was more thought of in this day than it seems to be, and I therefore take occasion to press the subject on all believers into whose hand these pages may fall. I fear it is sometimes forgotten that God has married together justification and sanctification. They are distinct and different things, beyond question, but one is never found without the other. All justified people are sanctified, and all sanctified are justified. What God has joined together let no man dare put asunder. Tell me not of your justification, unless you have also some marks of sanctification. Boast not of Christ
's work for you, unless you can show us the Spirit's work in you. Think not that Christ and the Spirit can ever be divided. I doubt not that many believers know these things, but I think it good for us to be put in remembrance of them. Let us prove that we know them by our lives. Let us try to keep in view this text more continually: 'Follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.'" (page 152-153 of Faithfulness and Holiness)
jc ryle

Here We Go Again...

2008-05-14T21:45:00.002-04:00

I going to try and be as nice as possible the following post, as my words have gotten me into trouble in the past for being flippant with my words.
You need to read this interview.
My thoughts on this is that the guy is losing(or has lost) is mind. Sure, I'll grant the fact that it makes for some fun conversation to talk about E.T.'s. To say that we have "extraterrestrial brother's" is just plain idiotic. Read the account of Creation in Genesis, and one can see there no room "other life's". If this were indeed the case that we had other "brothers", than just who did Jesus die for? What burns me most about this interview is the fact that this dude is the Head of the Vatican Observatory and a scientific adviser to the Pope. If I were a Catholic, I would certainly be questioning what the hell this guy is talking about. So, my catholic brothers out there in cyber world, take a stand and demand that this adviser quit stomping on the Our Sovereign God and His the Word that proceeded out His mouth.

A few thoughts on Prayer

2008-05-14T16:05:00.002-04:00

Once again I type, as my beloved Mariners make an attempt to blow another lead. So apologize ahead of time for any profanity that slips out in this post.

I was reading a book the other day entitled "Why Revival Tarries"(a great book by the way) by a fellow by the name of Leonard Ravenhill. Upon reading the book, something jumped out at me. That would be the word Prayer. Many churches and it's leaders speak of great ideas for doing the Lord's works, but what good will those ideas be without prayer. Even in my own life, do I take the time for daily, secret intercession with our Lord? Or do spit off the typical prayers of "help this person, help that person, thank you this, thank you that, etc" I admit most of the time it is the latter. What the book really impressed upon me is that even if we spend every considerable amount of our time studying for a sermon, doing good works, etc. what good will they be if we have not spent earnest time in prayer asking to Lord to break us and to mold us. It is really to much of us to spend an hour a day in solemn prayer. I know we live in rat race type of society, so our excuses will always abound. If our desire is to glorify God, shouldn't we at least be in solemn conversation with One whom we want to glorify.

As you go think on this quote by Jonathan Edwards, "Sincere friendship towards God, in all who believe him to be properly an intelligent, willing being, does most apparently, directly, and strongly incline to prayer; and it no less disposes the heart strongly to desire to have our infinitely glorious and gracious Friend expressing his mind to us by his word, that we may know it."

Hanging with the Heathens

2008-05-06T22:05:00.002-04:00

I apologize for accidental words of anger in this post, as I watching the Mariner's and their starting pitcher sucking very badly at the moment.

At the recent Dwell event in NYC, I had the opportunity to see Darrin Patrick speak on Dwelling with non-Christians. The following is a basic Cliff Notes version of what he had to say.

It is clear from the Scripture that we are called to "...make disciples of all nations...". The question remains how do we do this? In what way should we do this?
One of the key aspects in doing this is figure out what you like about the culture.
This can involve attending community events. Such as a Phillies game, a concert, a beer festival, etc. As a church we need to create events that attract the community. Some ideas that have passed around at our church are having a skate park, showing the UFC fights in our church, Madden tourneys, holding concerts,etc.
In doing this we need make sure we have a good feel for the community, in a way that Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.
The necessity of doing this is spelled out in 1 Thessalonians 2:8. In doing this, we need our friends to how much we are like them, more importantly our friends need to see how much we aren't them. For instance, if you enjoy fine beer at a Pub as I do(not the Satanic Lite beers), you need to show your enjoyment of the fine beverage in a Godly manner, not a drunken sinful manner.
These are just a few thoughts. Most importantly, when discerning how to effectively spread the gospel to the lost, we must be sure that whatever we are doing our actions will be Christ-honoring and spreading the gospel mission.

Coming Soon

2008-05-01T23:00:00.002-04:00

I've been really busy this week. So my replies to comments have been a little late, but not forgotten. I recently attended a church planting conference in Manhattan a couple of days ago, and will post some thoughts on it soon. To my catholic brothers, I haven't forgot about. I'm gonna refrain from some theological bantering for about a week, so I can post some much needed info. on sharing the gospel, church planting, worship,etc.
If anybody has any great ideas in which the gospel is shared at your respective churches, let me know I would like to hear them.

J-unit

Donkey fo the Week

2008-04-27T23:44:00.000-04:00

On the Apocrypha

2008-04-22T21:41:00.002-04:00

Since it seems much of the haggling is over apocrypha this, and bible that. I thought I would chime in. For the record, I will certainly will concede that I may have misinterpreted the Pope's prayer as a prayer for the dead. Casting this aside, I still believe prayer for the dead is without basis. And that to base this idea on anything but the Bible is wrong. For the sake of our readers, when I refer to the Bible I am referring to the "protestant" Bible. And since a prayer for the dead will eventually lead to purgatory, I will make an attempt to nip both of them in the bud. In an attempt to answer some questions that will inevitably arise I will consult the modern day crystal ball...google.

First, I will start with the idea of prayer for the dead which from what I can ascertain is a doctrine taken from the Apocrypha. I personally,do not see how one can reconcile the Apocrypha as the inspired Word of God for a number of reasons. First, in the NT there are numerous references to the Old Testament. If the Apocrypha was "truth" would there not be references made in the NT?
Second, unlike the other 66 books the Apocrypha was written in Greek and not Hebrew.
Third, there are many historical errors in the Apocrypha some of the examples are seen in Tobias where Tobias used magic, heart, liver, gall of a fish to drive away a demon. Also, in Tobias says he saw a revolt in the Northern Tribes(997 bc) and was deported to Nineveh in 740 bc, yet he only lived 102 years.
4th, the author of 2 Maccabees infers that his writings are not divinely inspired. But rather a writing of historical perspective.

To sum it up, if there are these glaring errors in the Apocrypha. One must consider/reconsider the doctrines that are pulled from these seemingly human inspired works. Within the canon of scripture lies what I consider the true and perfect Word of God.

Apologies to Amanda and One_Lost_Coin

2008-04-22T01:28:00.002-04:00

As you can see the posting on April 15th has been deleted. The reason for this is I believe the pictures and tone served more to offend and mock, then to facilitate debate. Though I do disagree with many doctrines in the RCC, my sinful pride was on full display when I chose to mock and castigate those whom I disagree with. It did not serve me any purpose, by posting a likeness of the pope on fire, nor by suggesting that all who follow the pope are going to hell. In the Jesus is the Final Judge and only He knows whom he calls into Eternity. I will make a better effort to humbling assert my disagreements I have within the RCC. Once again, to Amanda and One_Lost_Coin I apologize for my foolish pride.

Justin Maberry

2008-04-15T21:27:00.004-04:00

Prideful Thoughts

2008-04-10T20:45:00.002-04:00

The following is a brief list of thoughts on the subject of what pride is:

Hitting snooze for an extra ten minutes of sleep, thereby throwing your day off kilter.
Staying up late the night before surfing the 'net or watching the tube, when you need to get up early the next morning.
Reading the books(including the Bible) when your kids desire your crave your attention throughout the day or when you spouse desires to spend time with you.
Not having a proper diet or exercise
Misinterpreting the Bible to fit your own wishes.
Working in excess for a extra money that may not be needed.
Going out on the town when you need to pay bills.
Criticizing others for their lack of knowledge in certain areas that interest you.
Placing your kids on a pedestal.
Not including your spouse in decisions.
Not helping out around the house because you think you're a MAN!

This is bit but a small list, but all these are issues that ultimately compete with the sovereignty of God.

Perspectives on the Olympiad

2008-04-02T20:46:00.002-04:00

Christmas Day 1979. US intel detects Soviet aircraft streaming towards the Afghanistan border. It was on that day the Soviets disastrous attempt to overtake the Afghan's and "convert" them to Soviet ideology began. The war would last a decade and cost tens of thousands of lives. It also spark a worldwide protest, particularly in Hungary, that foresaw the end of the mighty Soviet Empire 10 years later. 1979(also a good pumpkins song) was also the year before the USSR was to hold the Olympics. They were to showcase the "brilliance" of communism in this Olympiad. They were going to show the world how far they "advanced" since Stalin's Reign of Terror. Fortunately, this invasion of Afghanistan finally struck a chord in minds of people in America, which led to a much needed boycott of murderous regime formerly known as the USSR.
Fast forward to 2007, the news headlines are filled with reports on Tibetans protesting the forthcoming Olympiad held in communist China. We here cries of protest for the US to withdraw. It seems on deaf hears this news falls, as we wouldn't want to offend the slave-supporting, truth-repressing, back-stabbing murders in the aristocracy of China. Truth be told the Olympics is to be a showcase of the world's greatest amateur athlete's. It is a showcase of the grandiosity of country. It is a showcase of unity worldwide.
Public policy in China shows these commie bastards to be none of the above. Their athlete's are frequently embroiled doping allegations. The pollution in Beijing is so bad, world class runners are either dropping out or considering breathing apparatuses while they compete. An undisclosed amount of workers have been killed in a hasty attempt to build the venues at breakneck speed. It leads the world in human trafficking, piracy, computer hacking, and forced slave labor, among other things. On the unity front, China despises Taiwan. So much so, they have threatened to take them off the map. Tibetans are very nearly treated as the Jews were in Nazi Germany. They are a continual supporter of lunatic regimes in Iran, Syria, and Russia to name a few. Lest we not forget, Chinese fingerprints are all over the carnage in Darfur.
When you watch the Olympics in a couple of months think on this. The nice leather coat you go to work was more than likely made by political prisoner or a Christian whose beliefs are criminalized. While you look like a stud, their ass is getting beat into the mud with butt end of an machine gun. But, hey, at least you look cool and the chicks dig you.

Something Different

2008-03-19T23:24:00.002-04:00

I'm going to try my hand at a little poetry. Periodically, I've been known to scribble out some prose, on the encouragement of a friend of mine I'm going to give it a shot.

Last Hours

The whip cracks with a mighty thunder, as it tears into the skin
Pulling out bloody chunks of skin and sinew, a few more hours until the end.
In a dazed, disheveled mess thorns are buried into My head,
Blood streams down my face, burning my eyes, as I blurily
stare upon the Cross, on which I will soon be dead.

My body is in agony as I shoulder the Cross against my savagely beaten frame,
Insults are hurled, as Simon carries the burden for Me as I've become lame.
I am lain on cedar, with iron spikes my hands and feet are cloven to the wood
To hold up a body no longer recognizable to those who normally would.
Spit mixes in with the dripping blood and sweat,
My side is pierced, as I have given my last breath.

Fear not, it was not I who was defeated on the Cross,
On that day, sin was given a permanent loss.
I've sacrificed My life,
I've taken every evil,
I've healed every wound,
I've dried every tear,
That Day on the Cross.

The Big Fraud

2008-03-11T20:44:00.003-04:00

This blog would normally get me in trouble, but since all of two people read it(and I am one of them). I feel pretty safe in writing about what I am to transcribe. I don't even know why I am writing about this. Perhaps if it it was in January or February it would be a little more timely, but alas it is March. The main position I'm taking is not that Martin Luther King, jr. was a great "uniter" of the races, but rather he was a pseudo-Christian, who did about as much to advance the cause of Christ as Led Zeppelin advanced hip-hop.
To show that MLK was hertic, I will not make wild conjectures based on feeling, but rather I will use his own words from his own writings to show that MLK is a heretic.

On the Sonship of Jesus, King wrote the following. " The first doctrine of our discussion which deals with the divine sonship of Jesus went through a great process of development. It seems quite evident that the early followers of Jesus in Palestine were well aware of his genuine humanity. Even the synoptic gospels picture Jesus as a victim of human experiences. Such human experiences as growth, learning, prayer, and defeat are not at all uncommon in the life of Jesus. How then did this doctrine of divine sonship come into being?
We may find a partial clue to the actual rise of this doctrine in the spreading of Christianity into the Greco-Roman world. I need not elaborate on the fact that the Greeks were very philosophical minded people. Through philosophical thinking the Greeks came to the point of subordinating, distrusting, and even minimizing anything physical. Anything that possessed flesh was always underminded in Greek thought. And so in order to receive inspiration from Jesus the Greeks had to apotheosize him.The church had found God in Jesus, and so it called Jesus the Christ; and later under the influence of Greek thought-forms, the only begotten Son of God."

On the Virgin Birth King states the following, "First we must admit that the evidence for the tenability of this doctrine is to shallow to convince any objective thinker. To begin with, the earliest written documents in the New Testament make no mention of the virgin birth. Moreover, the Gospel of Mark, the most primitive and authentic of the four, gives not the slightest suggestion of the virgin birth. The effort to justify this doctrine on the grounds that it was predicted by the prophet Isaiah is immediately eliminated, for all New Testament scholars agree that the word virgin is not found in the Hebrew original, but only in the Greek text which is a mistranslation of the Hebrew word for "young woman." How then did this doctrine arise?

A clue to this inquiry may be found in a sentence from St. Justin's First Apology. Here Justin states that the birth of Jesus is quite similar to the birth of the sons of Zeus. It was believed in Greek thought that an extraordinary person could only be explained by saying that he had a father who was more than human. It is probable that this Greek idea influenced Christian thought.

A more adequate explanation for the rise of this doctrine is found in the experience which the early Christians had with Jesus. The people saw within Jesus such a uniqueness of quality and spirit that to explain him in terms of ordinary background was to them quite inadequate. For his early followers this spiritual uniqueness could only by accounted for in terms of biological uniqueness. They were not unscientific in their approach because they had no knowledge of the scientific. They could only express themselves in terms of the pre-scientific thought patterns of their day.

And here is King on a myriad of basic tenets fundamental to beliefs of a Christian," Doctrines such as a supernatural plan of salvation, the Trinity, the substitutionary theory of the atonement, and the second coming of Christ are all quite prominant in fundamentalist thinking. Such are the views of the fundamentalist and they reveal that he is oppose to theological adaptation to social and cultural change. He sees a progressive scientific age as a retrogressive spiritual age. Amid change all around he was {is} willing to preserve certain ancient ideas even though they are contrary to science."

So there you have it kids...the reasons why MLK is a fraud. If you care to challenge me on this go right ahead. You can read it with your own eyes here,here,here,and here!

Becoming All Things To All Men

2008-03-02T20:16:00.002-05:00

This past Friday some dudes from the church went out into the city of Philadelphia to "live as the homeless". It was quite an experience in a couple of ways. First, it took us two hours to find the first homeless man(that might be some kind of a record). Second, believe it or not homeless do sleep like normal people, and most of them we found were asleep. Some on benches, some on the sidewalk, some in amazing contraptions that would make Bear Grylls proud. Needless to say, we could have packed it in after the two hours and said to ourselves this is pointless. Fortunately, we were a little deranged so kept up the pursuit.
After getting home and recovering, I began to think of the words of Paul when he says, "...I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings."
As Christians, we need to take this attitude when sharing our faith with others. It doesn't do us any good if we give up because we feel we are not reaching anybody. We must constantly be in pursuit of the prize, so that we can reach others. Even if it is just one person we reach, that person we reach may be the next great revivalist who can reach multitudes of others. Or that person you reach may turn his life around and be saved from destruction. As final word I will share a quote,
"The battle has already been won, it is only a matter of how many soldiers that share in the victory that we need to worry about."

Sermon on Jonah

2008-02-29T08:36:00.002-05:00

By clicking here, you can listen to my sermon on Jonah.

Ahh yes, my man crush

2008-02-21T15:50:00.000-05:00

Now this is some fine Rock and Roll

Those crazy emergents

2008-02-13T23:18:00.004-05:00

While reading an article in Time magazine about N.T. Wright's forthcoming book on bodily resurrection I couldn't help but wonder who reads all this stuff. So, I did some digging through various blogs and found the emergent folks are the ones who seem to have a man crush on this dude. Which got me thinking, that the emergent church reminds of old style fundamentalism, expect with more pastels, goofy paintings, yoga sessions, and other stuff you would associate with people marching in a gay pride parade.
I grew up in an era where God was vengeful and if you made a mistake you were smoked. Now, we have the emergent crowd who seem to like the idea of a sissy Christ who picks daisies, gets a manicure, and then ends the day drinking a wine cooler. They spend so much useless time haggling over "Does your real body go to heaven, or does your soul?" I'm starting to wonder if their missing the point of Jesus died for you and when your saved you go to heaven...Does it matter how or when we get there.
I believe they are making a fatal mistake by placing time according to the human element next to time according to Jesus. Sure, you can make the case that their could be a slight delay, in human terms, of when you "officially" go to heaven, but then time is completely different according to Jesus. So, is there really a delay at all?, if a thousand years in heaven is like a day on earth?
Frankly, these emergents need to grow a pair balls and teach Christ died for your sins and you are saved when you repent and seek His mercy. If they want to keep screwing around with their loony debates, maybe they can pack their grateful dead cd's and baloney sandwiches and move to San Fran.

Welcome to the East Coast

2008-02-05T19:26:00.000-05:00

Being from Seattle, I am not really acquainted with in's and out's of catholicism, other than the fact I think it's a bit goofy. So, silly me I thought people celebrated Mardi Gras for the three B's beer, broads, and boobies. Luckily, I work with enough "religious" folks who told me about Mardi Gras, Lent, Ash Wednesday. After they told me, I did my best not to laugh, as I thought it to be the most absurd thing, it's right up there with praying to the Saints.
For it's worth here's my two cents...it your going to party like rock star for the other 325 days, what does it matter if you act pious during Lent. Last, I checked Amos had some stern words for this type of religous piety. As for the ash on the head, I pretty sure Jesus said that fasting should be done in private and not in an outward manner, so as not to draw attention to yourself. Who are these people fooling with their with the ash of a cigarette on their forehead? Perhaps, they should pick up a Bible and read about fellow named Jesus who died for their sins, and who doesn't demand some Pharisee type of living, but rather a life in full devotion to Him.
One good thing about this Lent bit is that most of them don't eat meat. So, now is the time to go to your favorite steakhouse.

Chew on This

2008-02-03T23:16:00.000-05:00

"Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses to be bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?"

Unsynchromized Thoughts

2008-02-02T23:15:00.000-05:00

Here's a couple of obscure thoughts to sink your noodle on...
If you watch a documentary on WWII and it's black and white you always think of those images in black and white, but if you talk to veteran whose was in the specific battle he remember those images in vivid color. Think on this...you both can talk about the same images to each other but you transmit the images to your head in black and white, while when the old vet talk about those images he sees them in color...

And for one more obscure thought...if you are a pre millennial pre trib type of dude and the Bible speaks of the Second Coming of Christ...well, if are a pre trib wouldn't you have to have 3rd coming of Christ...I put myself in the category of I'm saved and I'll go to Heaven and how I get there is of zero concern to me.

And one more Art Bellesque thought...since sound waves are constantly traveling and don't technically vanish into thin air...Would it not be scientifically possible to create some sort of device that could decode these waves and listen to conversations in the past?

For the sake of my 2 readers, I have not been drinking tonight...unless you count the pomegranate juice sitting forward of the mouse

Fear of Failure

2008-01-30T12:49:00.000-05:00

While preparing to preach on February 17th, I've taken to reading various resources on the methodology of preaching. Needless to say, every time I read something I feel as though I'm not adequately prepared. Which leads to reading some more, and then having doubts, and then reading more, and so on and so forth.
Then it hit me one day, I can read every book, listen to every podcast, talk to every pastor, but unless I seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit I will be doomed for failure.
Before each reading, I've found it necessary to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. we can prepare for something as long and as hard as we can, but unless we can prayerfully seek guidance, we will sound foolish. And the message that was needed to be conveyed will be lost in our sin of pride.

Unsubstantiated Bantering

2008-01-22T23:19:00.000-05:00

So, I'm flipping through the tube after another fine episode of The Wire, which is a fine show. Someone I stumbled across a show called Friends of God. Needless to say, I got suckered into watching it when I probably could've been sniffing glue or dipping my tongue in battery acid or some other more productive activity. It was what I expected, charismaniacs dancing like acid-tripping hippies of the 70's, capital "F" fundamentalists isolating themselves from the world like Randy Weaver in woods of Idaho, and then my favorite...those idiotic political nut jobs who somehow think Israel is code word for the United States. I find it amusing how people think if you are a Christian than somehow you are a part of an all inclusive gun-toting, navy-blue-suit-wearing, hang-an-atheist-for-fun club. It's almost as if they that if you don't vote Republican, God will smite your first born and cast you into the lake of fire for eternal damnation. The irony of all this is that I do typically vote for Republicans, and I do think liberals are a bit off their rocker...except when it comes to some of the details of "War on Terrorism". But that is for another time...

Fun with numbers

2008-01-22T09:03:00.000-05:00

While preparing to speak on Jonah, I realized that one man cannot touch on everything in one day, unless of course I was at an apostolic church in the South. Than I would probably do everything in four hours I would be allotted. With all the running that takes place I would probably pull a hamstring and have be involved in a faith healing. Which would carry on the service for another couple hours. Anyway, here some interesting tidbits that for now have found their way to cutting board.
In Jonah, God gives Nineveh 40 days to repent. This number forty has been oft repeated in Scripture. Examples are Jesus' temptation, Moses on the Mount, Ezekiel's hand on his right side,
etc. I believe this number shows a time of testing that God used showing people his plan for their life, nation, etc.
Also in Jonah we find the number listed 3 as the days spent the belly of Sheol. The significance of this number shows the completeness of something. For example, Trinity is 3 parts all equaling One Triune God, Jesus' completeness was shown buried and rose again in an span of three days, and in Jonah we God's Mercy, Jonah's repentance, and his recognition that "salvation is of the Lord", while in the belly for three days.

These are just some of my observations...

Boondock Saints...

2008-01-16T10:49:00.000-05:00

Warning: the following contains many clever uses of the F bomb...if you are easily offended than don't watch!

Strangely this is funny

2008-01-16T10:32:00.000-05:00

Don't Be That Guy

2008-01-09T17:33:00.000-05:00

While I have a few minutes in this chaotic world I will scribble, not really scribble since I am technically typing, down some thoughts on the "American" prophet Jonah. I use the term "American" because I believe it aptly fits Christians in America today. For a little more on that description I shall digress into the whale story. Though it's not really a whale story, but a story on the eternal grace, mercy, providence of God.
Jonah was called to preach to Nineveh, instead he tucked his tails between his legs, hopped on a boat, and made a vain attempt to flee 2500 miles to Tarshish, which is located in now modern day Spain. What happened in this attempted Houdini act is what I find similar to the Christians in cities all around us today. God calls us on a mission...we think think were hearing voices in our head...God gives us mercy by saving us in spite of ourselves...God provided a Big Fish(also a good movie) to keep Jonah on his mission...then we finally do get around to accomplishing the mission God sent us on,then we whine and complain, because we think God's mission wasn't what we had in mind...Jonah, after saving Nineveh from certain doom, seemingly sits on a hill overlooking Nineveh waiting for Sodom and Gomorrah part II(if anything he should have known that sequels aren't as good as the original). Instead of being thankful that many more came to know God, Jonah was ticked off that he didn't get a good fireworks display.
Don't be that dude who is on mission for God and himself. Only God know his divine plan. It is not up to us to decide whether certain acts of God of unjust or unjust. It is only our mission to follow God's will for our life, and be thankful that He was gracious enough to include us in on just a infinitesimal part of his Divine Plan.

Some random thoughts...if Hillary loses the nomination will she explode? Is it ironic that after the 'Skins beat the cowboys by 21, and thought Sean Taylor was with them(he's wore number 21), that they turn around and lose to the mighty, Super Bowl worthy Seahawks by....21? "It's a little to ironic, yeah, I really do think!"

Psalm 137:8-9 and other thoughts

2008-01-08T21:46:00.000-05:00

While shooting the proverbial bull with a dude from church, he brought up Psalm 137:8-9 and asked me for my thoughts on the text(our topic of conversation revolved around whether or not man is justified in asking for the wrath of God on subjects that piss us off.) The text of this passage states:

O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock.

Upon the first reading of this I thought, somebody must have been taking a few too many nips out of the new wine when he decided to scribble this psalm down. Since all scripture is inspired by God I thought I would take a closer look at this to determine contextually how this fits.
Thankfully, Al Gore's beautiful invention of the internet has allowed me to research this more thoroughly.
First and foremost, this verse was a prophecy that was later fulfilled in Isaiah 13:16 where it states,

"There in infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes, their houses will be plundered and wives ravished."

Second, in a historic context, this was the way wars were fought back in the day. The old saying goes "Kick ass and takes names." Back then I believe that saying would fall under the category of " kick ass and don't take any names or women or children..." It was simply the way babylonians fought. In light of this, it was in the Psalmist's vision that what was exacted on them(Israel), was exactly what was going to be exacted on Babylon.

Last, this verse doesn't say to pray to God for the destruction of our enemies, as this psalm was a prophetic psalm. What it does show is that God's justice endures forever, and He does not forget those who have defiled His Name.

My next thought is quick one...I will blog on it later but due to the scourge of ADHD that plagues our society I will be brief.
I was flipping through Jonah the other day...I couldn't help but think how many of us are called on a mission and we duck and run. Here's a newsflash: every Christian is on a mission from God for Jesus. Whether you are old or young, rich or poor you are on mission....I'll expand on this later, but for now enjoy the day or night.
One more thought... is it fair to say that Hosea was a Pimp for Jesus:)

Perversity of Language or Perversity of the Heart?

2007-12-30T23:21:00.000-05:00

The background of this entry is based on a couple of brief conversations I've had concerning the big "Christian" faux pas of dropping the "f" bomb. Among my circle of friends it is not uncommon for any of us to use this word in our conversation. It's usage is used mainly as an adjective, not an angry rhetorical remark meant to demean someone.

I was raised in fairly conservative home, where that type of language was rarely heard. Growing up it always puzzled why some words like "fuck", "shit", "damn" were condemned, but if you said "Gosh darn it" or "jiminy christmas" it was seemingly ok(in my house even these euphemisms were frowned on, but didn't quite elicit the beating as dropping one of George Carlin's 7 dirty words). I know that if my parent's said not to say these words it was a sin because I was disobeying my parent's rules. Now that I am a parent and not under the rule of mom and dad is it still a sin for me to use any of these words? In order to better answer this question I will consult a little used text in America to find these answers, the Bible.
Matthew 15:17 states, ".Do you no know whatever goes into mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?" The Greek for expelled is into the latrine, so would it make a difference if the verse used expelled into the shitter. After all the use of word shit is traced back to the Old Norse word "skita" meaning to defecate from which we derive the word feces. Used in it's context the word shit has no inherently evil usage.
If I were to use the phrase absofuckinlutely or my personal favorite wtf or what the fuck, are these words the vulgar things spoke of in the Bible or is it just a image created by our culture that makes it bad.
James 3 speaks of controlling the tongue throughout the whole chapter it is said to be of deadly poison, an object that is can both bless and curse. Too many times people take the liberty of saying that the word "curse" in the Bible is the same as a "curse" word in our culture today. When in fact to curse someone in the Bible would be to slander, speak ill will, or be vile in your mannerisms toward someone. In fact, the only specific type of language that is frowned upon is taking the lord's name in vain and taking an oath by heaven (Matthew 5:33-34).
Where the Bible speaks on vulgar language it is speaking of the language that defiles a man.
Language was meant to be used to glorify God not to tear down the images of God. Which is why vulgar language is not to be used as it tears the man created in God's image.
Contextually, theses words can either be sin or no sin. When used to degrade people or rip them apart it doesn't matter whether we call someone an stupid idiot or dumb son of a bitch they are both sin. It is very difficult for me believe if I drop the "f" bomb in the presence of friends who aren't offended that I have committed an evil, reprehensible sin.
Finally, this subject wasn't meant to be an exegetical argument for the justification of using any type of language at any time. It is merely to point out uses of words aren't evil, it is the intent of the heart when using the words that make it evil.

Compassion of Jesus or F$#^ the sinner?

2007-12-28T01:02:00.000-05:00

I had originally intended to blog on different subject for my initial post, but instead my noggin was off in a different direction. So, I will blog on some recent events that occurred in my former 'hood.
The headlines scream everyday death, destruction, and debauchery. In the past day a family of
6 was killed on X-mas eve in Carnation, WA, in Pakistan a former PM and 20 others were blasted into eternity by a Jesus-starved homicide bomber. When I read these headlines two things came to mind...1. "I'm sure glad I don't live near any Islamitics 2. How can anybody kill a family of 6, including a 6 yr old and 3 yr old?" Having kids myself, I thought if anybody did that to my family I would probably jump into the lunatic fringe and beat them to death and probably enjoy it. Then rationality set in and I thought to myself by being angry would I not be giving a foothold to Satan in my life?
Too often as Christians, our first reaction to anything grievous and perverted is to think or say "Wtf I hope they burn in hell? Alas, this completely contrary to what the Bible teaches. I know I'm guilty of doing exactly what I'm writing about...so this is a lesson for you as well for me.
Within the Bible are many examples of what Jesus did...which is the complete opposite of what we do...for the sake of time and fact I'm tired and starting to see things I will keep it like fruit of the loom...brief.

Mark 6:34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

Instead, of whining and complaining, Jesus knew they needed salvation, so he too it upon himself to speak to them. It didn't matter if they were sinners or saints, Jesus treated them all equally.

Luke 7:48, 50 [48] Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." [50] Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace.

With the prostitute he didn't run away from because he afraid he would contract an std, instead he lovingly spoke with her.
Finally, as Christians we can do one of two things we can say "F*&% the sinner" or we can follow the example of Jesus and seek to help the lost. We must always remember all of us are depraved sinners, not just a select few. Everybody needs prayer, not just friends and family. The next time you're skimming the paper and you come across tragedy don't just pray for the afflicted...Pray for afflictor...They need Jesus, too.
I'll leave with a final verse that should remind to act accordingly as a Christian.

1 John 2:6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did

2007-12-27T10:21:00.000-05:00

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