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Hell? Yes! 18 y
As I've studied this issue, the first thing I noticed is that the Bible is the last place people look when hell-bent (pun intended) on convincing themselves that there is no hell. And with good reason. But diversion is always easier than investigation, so that's where they start.
First they appeal to their own personal revisionist history, wherein ”the Catholic Church invented hell to scare people” or something to that effect. While there is certainly a tendency among the world’s religions to use it to control and intimidate people, this whole line of argument is a red herring since it is completely unrelated to the actual content of the Bible. Who cares what this or that church said about it? Are they God? (Some think they are, but of course they’re not.) And has it occured to these wanna-be theologians that the Jewish rabbis may also have a vested interest in den ... read more What Jesus Came To Do 18 y
Let's hear what HE has to say about it!
There is a popular fad today, where people invent Jesus in their own images. We paint a picture from our imagination, creating a ”Jesus” that suits our particular tastes. It’s no different from the ancients creating idols out of wood or metal or rock. We shape it, mold it, decorate it, then bow down to it. This is exactly what people do today with Jesus. But what is he really like, and what was his mission here on earth?
I’ve already written about the fact that Jesus did claim to be God so I won’t repeat that here. But let’s look at some scripture about what Jesus said concer ... read more Bible Canon Criticisms Refuted 18 y
The Bible we have today is reliable and accurate.
Here is a link I recommend for all who want a concise reference on the issue of what books belong in the Bible:
http://www.tektonics.org/uz/zindler02.html
This one article does an excellent job of listing common objections to the standard Bible as we know it today, then dismantling them with history and logic. Christians can rest on the assurance that the Bible we have today really is the Word of God, not the result of any conspiracy or arbitrary opinions. Rather than confuse the issue of what the Bible really should contain, attempts to add, change, or delete the scriptures have ac ... read more Shadow Boxing 18 y
It's an amazing phenomenon, one that seems to be unique to one group of people. If it involved any other topic we'd call it psychosis. I'm referring to the practice of continually being obsessed with something a person believes is non-existent.
Who does this, you ask?
Atheists.
Of course there are exceptions, but the majority seem to do nothing all day but rage at God. God, whom they insist is a figment of the imagination, is someone they can’t stop thinking about. They read the Bible just to look for absurdities and contradictions; they hang around Christians just to shout epithets; they spend great amounts of time digging through the news to look for bad examples of Christian living.
If they had this fixation on all religion it might be a tad less psychotic, but it’s always about Christianity and the Bible. Non ... read more Forsaking All Others 18 y
Do you have Jesus Lite, Jesus Plus, or the real Jesus?
We may remember that phrase from the traditional wedding vows (a phrase that many simply ignored in practice), but it is a vital part of the gospel.
Today, people say they like ”Jesus” but that’s where any resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible ends. They want ”Jesus Lite”, the one who never raises his voice, never criticizes, never judges, never confronts; always accepts, always loves, always looks the other way. They also want ”Jesus Plus”: Jesus plus Buddha, Jesus plus Mohammad, Jesus plus the Pope, Jesus plus Krishna, Jesus plus spirit guides, Jesus plus self-indulgence, Jes ... read more Coffins and Coffers: why Hollyweird is obsessed with Jesus 18 y
The news agencies and docu-propagandists are buzzing over the latest "bash Christianity" film and calling it "proof". What's up with that?
Claims:
1-- A set of coffins with common names inscribed on them and some bones inside is all you need to prove you found Jesus’ grave.
2-- The people who had Jesus crucified didn’t look for his alleged stolen body and smash Christianity before it started, but we found it after 2000 years. It was of course given much better care than the scriptures.
3-- If some Christians don’t believe in a literal, physical resurrection, why should we?
Some observations:
1-- It’s amazing how little evidence is required to debunk Christianity, but how enough is ne ... read more Vision 18 y
Is one's belief system related to intelligence?
I’m sure you’ve heard this statement: ”How can any intelligent person believe such-and-such?” But at the heart of it is an erroneous assumption: that faith is only held by the uneducated (as one of my college profs arrogantly stated) and that the intelligent always abandon faith as just another childhood fantasy.
Yet it isn’t just religious faith that the arrogant say this about. If you believe that ”old money” globalists are running the world behind the scenes, you’re assumed to be either crazy or stupid. The same for many in the past who believed someday we could fly, or reach t ... read more God and Testaments 18 y
What does the Bible say about how God deals with his people?
YHWH, the God of the Bible, is the God of both the Old and New Testaments (OT and NT). People have various notions about all this, and while I’m sure many will never change their minds, I must do my best to relay what the Bible tells us.
Anyone who has read the OT surely sees a pattern in God’s dealings with Israel, his Chosen People. He blesses them, they prosper, they turn their backs on him, they are punished, they come back to him. Over and over and over, the same pattern goes. The account of the Kings is almost an every-other-generation cycle of good and evil, faithfulnes ... read more The Rapture: Common Objections Answered 18 y
Many people today hate the idea of the Rapture, where Jesus comes to take his people out of the world before God rains down judgment in the last seven years of life as we know it. There are many misconceptions about this event, and many claims that it is not Biblical. Let's take a look at the more common ones.
1-- The Rapture IS in the Bible
Old Testament examples of ”raptures” are found in the case of Enoch (Gen. 5:23-24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). Noah (Gen. 7 and 8), and Lot (Gen. 19) are examples of the godly being taken away to escape God’s judgment.
New Testament:
Luke 21:29 He told them this parable: ”Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near... 34 ”Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipa ... read more Noah, Lot, and Prophecy 18 y
Jesus used Noah and Lot as examples of conditions at the time of his return. Are we there yet?
Mt. 24:37-39 (see also Luke 17 and 1 Peter 3:20)
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man...
It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from hea ... read more Destiny 18 y
Are our destinies written in stone?
Easily the most popular movement in churchianity the last few years is the Purpose Driven program by Rick Warren. At its very heart is the assertion that every little detail of our lives is planned by God, and all the world’s problems would melt away if we’d all just find our ”purpose”— our destiny.
But since the Reformation, the system known as Calvinism or ”reformed” or Monergism has held to an even stricter definition of fatalism: that we don’t even need to find our purpose, because God has every moment of human history scripted to the last detail, and we are all just puppets on str ... read more Falsifiability: the watershed of real science 18 y
The article linked here from Berkeley is a simple overview of what the secular world considers "good science".
( Source)
Ironically, this article violates its own standards by calling the interpretation of facts ”science” in the case of evolution, yet also says such interpretations are not facts and thus not science. But here is their definition in a nutshell:
1. Scientists are human. ”Sociology, politics, psychology, and similar aspects of human nature all have a profound influence on how science is conducted”.
2. The Scientific Method (hypotheses are formulated from observations, and theories develop from these hypotheses) is usually, but not always, followed.
3. Facts ... read more Can Sin Be Inherited? 18 y
Can any spiritual attribute be inherited from another human being?
Please note: I am not teaching that we can save ourselves! There is no connection between rejection of inheritable sin or righteousness and whether we need a Savior. People cannot save themselves because salvation is by faith in Jesus’ redemption of mankind. Faith is not a work, so it cannot be called ”synergism” or ”working with God”. Salvation is a gift, not a wage, so we cannot earn it. Neither can we ”inherit” it by failing to sin! It can only be accepted by faith.
I say this now because in the following article I will undoubtedly be accused of heresy simply for rejecting the po ... read more The Impossible Book 18 y
The Bible is just a book– right?
Omega Letter Christian Intelligence Digest
[Jack Kinsella] The Impossible Book
In Defense of the Faith
Friday, January 12, 2007
Jack Kinsella - Omega Letter Editor
Imagine, for a second, that a collection of several dozen books about the cultural, religious and historical heritage of an historical people began to be composed around the fifth century AD.
That isn’t when the collection was completed, but rather, when it started. Since 500 AD, the work had been taken up by forty different individuals along the way, a book here, two books there, etc., with ... read more Genesis and the Gospel 18 y
How the issue of origins impacts the issue of salvation.
Many people would be surprised to learn that not all who reject evolution’s long ages are Christians; many are agnostics. But among Christians, there is a growing trend toward long ages, even though they still believe God started the process. There are several variations on how to try and meld Genesis and long ages. But many more Christians are now saying the whole issue of the days of creation is irrelevant, that the Bible is all about ”who, not how” and is just meant to be some sort of poetic story.
But whether it’s long ages or none at all, it has a major impact on the gospel its ... read more The Ten Most Underreported News Items of 2006 18 y
Most news services report the biggest stories of the past year, but this one does the stories nobody else would cover.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53601
visit the page The Offense of the Cross 19 y
What should we be telling the lost?
Christians have always argued about the best approach to evangelism. Should it be ”fire and brimstone”, where we instill the fear of hell into people and scare them into heaven? Or perhaps the other extreme, where we pat the lost on the head and say ”There, there, Jesus will make it better. He wants to be your friend.” Another option is ”Pascal’s Wager”, where we basically ask the lost to ”make a safe bet” on Jesus, that they have nothing to lose by accepting him. But what does the Bible tell us?
Acts 18:16-32 (TNIV)
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly dis ... read more |