Silly "Science"

This photo is from the Darwin camp at The Future is Wild, an evolutionary publication. It's their rendition of what squids will eventually "evolve" into in about 100 million years or so.......give or take. Read the whole story at Ray Comfort's Atheist Central blog.

Housekeeping

As a general housekeeping duty, I have decided to add a general disclaimer to links, blogs and websites I might link to or quote from. Please read it here. I have also posted a link on the sidebar for future reference.

Semester of Philosophy

I caught this on Tony "Lawman" Miano's blog. To learn more about Voddie Baucham, click here.

Stay out of "The Shack"

You may recognize this book. Maybe you've even read it. It is moving through the church like wildfire mainly through a grass roots distribution. Christian artist and high profile evangelicals alike are raving about this book. But is is God honoring or flat out heresy? I haven't read it, but I trust the reviews that I have gotten on it from Christian leaders I trust. Tony Miano has posted some very helpful videos on his blog. I found the comments by Pastor Mark Driscoll most compelling. Check out the reviews and videos here.

The guy who has it all

Recently, I took a trip down to Tucson, Arizona (my home town) for a family birthday party with my wife and three daughters. The usual activities took place. Food, family, jokes, food, friends, food, swimming for the kids, and lastly, food.

It is at these gatherings that I fear sharing the Gospel the most. I think about whether or not they will take me seriously or if I will damage or forever change a relationship. Maybe I'm concerned that I will cast a strange mood on the gathering. Of course, none of these are good reasons to withhold the greatest gift ever. They are just among the many fears that I have when I purpose in my heart to witness to anyone.

There is one person in my family that I love to study. On the outside, he has it all: A wonderful wife who cares for him and their two children. A great job that serves and has the respect of the community. He is in great physical shape, athletic, funny, animated and has lots of good friends and family that love him. Most of the world looking in would say that he has it all; that he is experiencing all of the best that life has to offer.

What he doesn’t have though, is eternal life in Christ. What’s worse, is that although he is easy to talk to, he is perhaps the one person I fear most sharing the Gospel with. That is something I have to deal with soon.

One thing I am sure will not work with this individual is the modern Gospel that is being preached today. It is a message that all too often speaks of a Jesus offering life enhancement, his best life now, self serving purpose or whatever else the world values. He would tell you his life is great, that he doesn’t need church, the Bible or God. And based on any “gospel” offering worldly benefits, he would be right. He doesn’t need to be made happy, he’s perfectly content. He doesn’t need Jesus to fix his marriage, his is fine. He doesn’t need fellowship or guidance for life, his friends and family are fellowship and support enough. Least of all would he think that he needs forgiveness. Forgiveness for what? I am sure he would consider himself a pretty good person with the exception of a few wrong choices in his youth.

What he and every other person on this earth needs is the genuine Gospel that speaks of his lack of goodness. In fact, he has to be convinced that at his core, he is actually completely depraved and can do nothing in himself to gain the approval of God. He needs to know that God is angry at his sin and that there will be a day of judgment and God is a just Judge and must punish sin. He needs to know that there is only one way to escape eternal punishment and separation from God in Hell. He needs to know that two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh came to this earth and lived a perfect life to pay for his sins by giving His life up on the cross and then rising from the grave three days later defeating death. That his only hope is to repent and trust in Jesus alone and respond to God’s kind and gracious gift of eternal life. Now that would be some good news!

How do we realize our sin and get on our faces before God if we aren’t convinced that we have any real sin in our lives. How do we rightly revere God if we do not have an accurate knowledge of His holy, perfect, and righteous character. Here’s a good place to start.

Culture, The Bible, and a Teenager

I got another disturbing church flyer in the mail today. They just seem to be getting more gimmicky by the week. This one focuses on various television shows to illistrate the messages. You can see the various "sermon" titles on the flyer on the left. The rest of this tri-fold, full color mailer contained all of the other expected elements: One line testimonials from attendees that have found "relevance", "connection", and "experience."

The mailer also boasted of "Dynamic services with progressive music, media, life-changing insights and personal stories designed to connect you with the One who loves you and knows you best."

It only reffered to God twice in general terms, and made no mention of the Bible or even Christianity. The only mention of Jesus is in the picture below advertising their "Plastic Jesus" series coming in September.

This was all getting to be a bit much for me. I began to wonder if I was being too critical. I decided to quiz my 14 year old daughter and ssked her to look it over. "What do you think is wrong with this," I asked. She scanned it over trying to figure out first who was sending this. Understandable since it didn't really look like something that should be coming from a church. She read aloud some of the message titles: "Sex in the City? Married with Children? It looks like their message is centered more on culture than on the Bible." "Exactly!" I said. "You get an "A" for the day!" Critical or not on my part, I couldn't really argue with her pithy remarks. Way to go kiddo! --Dad

Lawman gets assaulted

This is the torn bible of Tony "The Lawman" Miano after a street preaching encounter. He was preaching open air when things got ugly. Really ugly. Read the full story here at Tony's blog.

Tony is the director of the Ambassadors' Alliance and one of my Christian mentors. He is a faithful man of God and demonstrated Godly poise and restraint from an angry passer by.

"You Choose, Dad!"

This morning I learned of the death of Pastor Greg Laurie's son Christopher (pictured here with his wife Brittany and daughter Stella). It happened over a week ago on the Riverside Freeway in a fatal auto accident. My heart grieves for Pastor Greg and his family. His ministry and teaching have been a great encouragement to me over the years.

Perhaps the greatest teaching of all coming from Greg (aside from the glorious Gospel he preaches) is the truth that God is real and that He knows best even in the midst of the most painful circumstances. I really can't say anything that will express genuine faith the way Greg does in this article where he reflects on the sudden tragic loss of his oldest son. It is titled "You Choose, Dad!" You can also view the video of Pastory Greg addressing his congregation just days Christopher's death below.

Please pray for Laurie family in this time of mourning and loss.