There is a terrible character in Greek mythology named Procrustes. Procrustes was a host who adjusted his guests to fit their bed. "Procrustes" means "he who stretches."
He had a house
by the side of the road where he offered his so-called hospitality to passing
strangers, whom he invited for a pleasant meal and a night's rest in
his very special bed. Procrustes described it as having the unique
property that its length exactly matched whoever lay down upon it.
But Procrustes had a secret.
The secret Procrustes didn't mention was the method by which this
"one-size-fits-all" bed was achieved. As soon as the guest lay down on the bed,
Procrustes went to work on him, stretching him on the rack if he was too short for the bed and chopping off his legs if he was too long.
Today, to say someone is "procrustean," refers to someone who produces conformity by violent or arbitrary means. He's the church parliamentarian--he carries Robert's Rules of Order in his back pocket and by all that's holy, you and everyone else are going to abide by them no matter what. He's that friend you have who goes by the rules and the procedures. He's got the day planned and rain or shine, his plan is going to happen.
"Procrustean" is a fitting adjective to describe Calvinism. Calvinism is the procrustean bed on which the Bible must lie. For example, here are four texts that the Calvinist puts on Procrustes' bed:
I Timothy 4:10: "We have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of believers."
Tit. 2:11: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people."
1 John 2:2: "And He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world."
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life."
The problem is that Calvinism has, as one of its 5 points, the one called "Limited Atonement" which says that Christ died only for a small, very small, percentage of the human race called "the elect," chosen by God arbitrarily in eternity past for salvation. Calvinist R. C. Sproul wrote: "God the Father designed the work of redemption
specifically with a view to providing salvation for the elect, and that
Christ died for His sheep and laid down His life for those the Father
had given to Him." Only those the Father had given him.
To set the two views in contrast, we could say it this way: By ‘limited atonement’ is meant that a limited number of people had their sin imputed to Christ. By ‘unlimited atonement’ is meant every person
without exception had their sin imputed to Christ and their sins are
paid for.
But there's a huge problem with limited atonement: If Christ's atonement is limited to only a very small percentage of the human race, why does God invite all men to come to Christ if Christ did not provide for all? If the atonement is limited, is God teasing and tantalizing those for whom Christ did not die if there's absolutely no chance for them to be saved because they weren't chosen in eternity past? One author said, "This is a mere mockery, for God will not tantalize his creatures by tendering them with that which is not in His hand to bestow."
The doctrine of unlimited atonement gives the evangelist a confidence that limited atonement cannot grant. As Dr. Robert Lighner explains: "No greater confidence is needed for the proclaimer of the gospel to lost men than that Christ, the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:22, 45) finished a work through which salvation was provided for every single member of the first Adam's condemned race."
So, when the Calvinist comes to the many verses in the Bible that are among the four mentioned above, those verses must lie on Procrustes' bed for "adjustment." These verses, taken on face value and normally, do not fit with Calvinism, so they have to be cut or elongated. In other words, they have to be redefined so that "all" does not mean "all" and "world" does not mean "world."
As Procrustes goes to work, the "world" becomes the "world of the elect." "All" does not mean "all," but means "all the elect." Writing of the Calvinist statement that I John 2:2 refers not to the "world," but to the "world of the elect," New Testament and Greek scholar, Zane Hodges, calls such an interpretation "tortured," and "futile."
He cites I John 5:19 where John uses the same word as he writes, "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." In John's writing, the "world" means the "world," not "the world of the elect." He writes: "Johannine thought and terminology leave absolutely no room for any such concept as "the world of the elect."
The idea of limited atonement is part of a philosophy, part of a system that's superimposed on the Bible, and having been superimposed, it must lie down on Procrustes' bed and be forced to fit.
WITHOUT COST
Friday, April 24, 2020
Friday, April 10, 2020
THE DEATH DEALER
They call it “The Garage Massacre.” It occurred in July when people of the town forced 40-60 of their fellow townspeople into a courtyard of a garage which was in the center of the city.
They spent some time publicly insulting, ridiculing and humiliating the 50 or so of their neighbors and fellow workers. Then the day turned deadly.
An eye-witness said, “I saw a group of well dressed, intelligent-looking people holding iron bars which they used to viciously beat another group of similarly well dressed, intelligent-intelligent looking people.
But some weren’t dead but lay unconscious. Using a hose for washing cars, they doused them with water until they regained consciousness then they began beating them again. And so it went on and on until the victims lay dead. As some of the citizens watched, they lifted their children onto their shoulders so they could catch a glimpse of one man known as the “Death Dealer.” He was the one who had instigated the Garage Massacre.
A few feet away from him stood another group of individuals who were guarded by armed men. Every few minutes he signaled with his hand and another person quietly stepped forward and had his skull shattered with one blow from the huge iron bar the Death Dealer held in his hand.
Each blow he struck drew another round of clapping and cheering from the enthralled crowd. There were women in the crowd and many of them clambered onto chairs and crates so that they and their children could get a better view of the spectacle taking place in the courtyard below. They were cheering, clapping, and laughing.
The Death Dealer was a blond man of medium height, about twenty-five years old. We know what he looked like because someone took his picture that day. The picture shows him standing and leaning on a wooden club, resting. The club is as thick as his arm and comes up to his chest.
At his feet lie about fifteen to twenty dead or dying people. Water is flowing continuously from a hose washing blood away into the drainage gully. Just a few steps behind this man some twenty men, guarded by armed civilians, stand waiting for their execution in silent submission.
In response to a wave of the hand, the next man steps forward silently and is beaten to death with the wooden club. The audience, seeing each blow enthusiastically shouts with the landing of each blow. Once the mound of the bodies at his feet had reach fifty, a young man who had wielded a crowbar, grabbed an accordion, climbed to the top of the pile of the corpses, and played a patriotic song as he danced and the spectators sang.
This incident was well documented and photographed; it was a public event that happened in Kovno, Lithuania, on June 1941, a day in which all those innocent Jews were beaten to death. Over 95% of that country’s Jewish population was massacred over a three-year period. The estimate is that 190,000–195,000 Jews were murdered in Lithuania before the end of World War II.
The philosopher Karl Jaspers wrote about the Holocaust: “That which has happened is a warning. To forget it is guilt. It must be continually remembered for it was possible for this to happen and it remains possible for this to happen again at any minute.” Karl Jaspers
They spent some time publicly insulting, ridiculing and humiliating the 50 or so of their neighbors and fellow workers. Then the day turned deadly.
An eye-witness said, “I saw a group of well dressed, intelligent-looking people holding iron bars which they used to viciously beat another group of similarly well dressed, intelligent-intelligent looking people.
But some weren’t dead but lay unconscious. Using a hose for washing cars, they doused them with water until they regained consciousness then they began beating them again. And so it went on and on until the victims lay dead. As some of the citizens watched, they lifted their children onto their shoulders so they could catch a glimpse of one man known as the “Death Dealer.” He was the one who had instigated the Garage Massacre.
A few feet away from him stood another group of individuals who were guarded by armed men. Every few minutes he signaled with his hand and another person quietly stepped forward and had his skull shattered with one blow from the huge iron bar the Death Dealer held in his hand.
Each blow he struck drew another round of clapping and cheering from the enthralled crowd. There were women in the crowd and many of them clambered onto chairs and crates so that they and their children could get a better view of the spectacle taking place in the courtyard below. They were cheering, clapping, and laughing.
The Death Dealer was a blond man of medium height, about twenty-five years old. We know what he looked like because someone took his picture that day. The picture shows him standing and leaning on a wooden club, resting. The club is as thick as his arm and comes up to his chest.
At his feet lie about fifteen to twenty dead or dying people. Water is flowing continuously from a hose washing blood away into the drainage gully. Just a few steps behind this man some twenty men, guarded by armed civilians, stand waiting for their execution in silent submission.
In response to a wave of the hand, the next man steps forward silently and is beaten to death with the wooden club. The audience, seeing each blow enthusiastically shouts with the landing of each blow. Once the mound of the bodies at his feet had reach fifty, a young man who had wielded a crowbar, grabbed an accordion, climbed to the top of the pile of the corpses, and played a patriotic song as he danced and the spectators sang.
This incident was well documented and photographed; it was a public event that happened in Kovno, Lithuania, on June 1941, a day in which all those innocent Jews were beaten to death. Over 95% of that country’s Jewish population was massacred over a three-year period. The estimate is that 190,000–195,000 Jews were murdered in Lithuania before the end of World War II.
The philosopher Karl Jaspers wrote about the Holocaust: “That which has happened is a warning. To forget it is guilt. It must be continually remembered for it was possible for this to happen and it remains possible for this to happen again at any minute.” Karl Jaspers
Friday, April 3, 2020
HOW ABOUT THAT!
Robert Roy Britt, writing for "Living Science," in 2012, was struck by what an amazing thing the planet earth is. He used words like "incredible," "perfect," and "just right." The following are some of the 13 amazing things he mentioned about our planet:
To introduce us to the Big 13, he wrote: "The air is exactly the mix of chemicals we need, there's lots of water, and the temperature is just right — at least in some places some of the time. Then he began his Big 13:
1. Third Rock: Our world orbits the sun at just the right distance — not too hot, not too cold. This habitable zone is where water can exist in liquid form — a basic requirement for life. Nobody is bragging about their oceanfront property on Mars or the cool breeze on Venus.
2. The Moon: But be thankful for our great big beautiful satellite. Its gravitational tug creates tides (with the help of the sun).
3. Stable Rotation: Earth's rotation brings the sun up each morning and, thankfully, puts it back down. If it weren't for this, one side of the world would be unbearably scorched and the other would freeze life to death. So you know, the moon is stealing some of Earth's rotational energy, slowing us down by about 1.5 milliseconds every century. [That IS stable!]
4. Constant Gravity: Nobody expects gravity to go anywhere anytime soon, but it's interesting to note that scientists don't really understand how gravity works. We take it for granted, but gravity helps make us who we are. It defines our strength, contributes to the shape and form of every living thing. An average male human transported to Mars could dunk on a 26-foot-tall basketball hoop due to the reduced gravity. A 200-pound man trying to stand on Jupiter (good luck) would weigh 480 pounds and would have to get a lot stronger just to jump more than a few inches.
5. The Deep Blue Sea: About 70 percent of our world is covered by oceans. The significance can't be overstated: Abundant liquid water is the most significant distinguishing factor on this planet that supports life.
Well, that's enough of the Big 13. You get the idea of just how special our created planet is, created just for us. How does Roy Britt sum up all of this amazing specialness? Here's what he says: "We're lucky." And, "If our star [the sun] and our world had shorter life spans — as many do — we'd never have gotten on our own two feet and developed brains big enough to ponder just how lucky we are to be here."
Lucky? What is the Bible's pronouncement of this viewpoint? Read Romans 1:21.
To introduce us to the Big 13, he wrote: "The air is exactly the mix of chemicals we need, there's lots of water, and the temperature is just right — at least in some places some of the time. Then he began his Big 13:
1. Third Rock: Our world orbits the sun at just the right distance — not too hot, not too cold. This habitable zone is where water can exist in liquid form — a basic requirement for life. Nobody is bragging about their oceanfront property on Mars or the cool breeze on Venus.
2. The Moon: But be thankful for our great big beautiful satellite. Its gravitational tug creates tides (with the help of the sun).
3. Stable Rotation: Earth's rotation brings the sun up each morning and, thankfully, puts it back down. If it weren't for this, one side of the world would be unbearably scorched and the other would freeze life to death. So you know, the moon is stealing some of Earth's rotational energy, slowing us down by about 1.5 milliseconds every century. [That IS stable!]
4. Constant Gravity: Nobody expects gravity to go anywhere anytime soon, but it's interesting to note that scientists don't really understand how gravity works. We take it for granted, but gravity helps make us who we are. It defines our strength, contributes to the shape and form of every living thing. An average male human transported to Mars could dunk on a 26-foot-tall basketball hoop due to the reduced gravity. A 200-pound man trying to stand on Jupiter (good luck) would weigh 480 pounds and would have to get a lot stronger just to jump more than a few inches.
5. The Deep Blue Sea: About 70 percent of our world is covered by oceans. The significance can't be overstated: Abundant liquid water is the most significant distinguishing factor on this planet that supports life.
Well, that's enough of the Big 13. You get the idea of just how special our created planet is, created just for us. How does Roy Britt sum up all of this amazing specialness? Here's what he says: "We're lucky." And, "If our star [the sun] and our world had shorter life spans — as many do — we'd never have gotten on our own two feet and developed brains big enough to ponder just how lucky we are to be here."
Lucky? What is the Bible's pronouncement of this viewpoint? Read Romans 1:21.
Friday, March 27, 2020
THE CORONAVIRUS AND THE CHURCH: PART II
The Emperor's New Clothes is a fairy tale in which the emperor is a vain man overly concerned with his clothes and spends a lot of money on them. Two con men come to town and offer to make the best clothing ever with special properties that make the clothes invisible to those unfit for their job or those that are stupid.
The emperor hires them but they make nothing at all. As people come to check on the progress they see nothing but they fear they must be stupid or unfit for the job so they shower the new clothes with praise.
The emperor finally comes to see the progress and is equally afraid to admit he sees nothing. The entire kingdom eventually praises the clothing and its magnificence. Upon its completion and unveiling in the town square, only a child speaks out that the emperor is wearing no clothes. Everyone finally admits they see nothing and so does the emperor. The lie is exposed.
Jude, writing about false teachers, used an analogy similar to the story of the emperor's new clothes when he wrote, "These [false teachers] are the men who . . . care for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted . . .
The Hans Christian Anderson story concludes with the con men exposed as frauds for all to see. And it is the ending of that story that we are seeing today from Bethel Church in Redding, California. This is a "church" which dumps chicken feathers (reported to be angel feathers), fog, and glitter out of its ventilation system to simulate a “glory cloud;” it is a church has a supernatural school of healing, and regularly writes and preaches their fables of raising the dead.
This is the church in which the child of Bethel Music CEO, Joel Taylor, was near death when they took him to the hospital to receive treatment. All the boy needed was water. They couldn’t heal the child of dehydration.
This is a church whose leadership claims that they can control the weather, but whose houses burned down when the wind spread the Shasta County fire to their domiciles. Bethel Church in Redding, California is the hub of the faith-healing movement in America. Their main man, Bill Johnson, wrote an article in which he claimed that all believers have the same power and authority as Jesus to heal illness. Johnson said that it's no problem; anyone with enough faith can do it.
The "Sacramento Bee" reported, “On Jan. 31, a woman was approached in the ER at Mercy Medical Center in Redding by two Bethel students from the church's School of Supernatural Ministry. The pair said 'they would pray over the people there and put Jesus in their hearts and this would heal us all and we didn’t need to stay at the ER and could go home,' the woman said in a text message. She asked not to be identified to protect her family’s privacy.” She filed a complaint with the hospital after one of the students touched her 5-year-old daughter without permission.
ENTER CORONA-V
Now, something has changed their healing ministry. The church is advising the faithful to wash their hands, urging those who feel sick to stay home, canceling missionary trips, and advising its faith healers to stay away from local hospitals. Wait. What? Stay away from the very places they ought to be if they can heal people? This is the thing about faith-healing meetings: the con men have to hold their meetings in places where they control the environment. That's why a hospital isn't the place--they can't control it.
One perceptive person asked, "Why aren't Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn hopping on jets, and going to the nations which are most afflicted to heal them?" It's a rhetorical question; we know the answer. "They are clouds without water, autumn trees without fruit"
The emperor hires them but they make nothing at all. As people come to check on the progress they see nothing but they fear they must be stupid or unfit for the job so they shower the new clothes with praise.
The emperor finally comes to see the progress and is equally afraid to admit he sees nothing. The entire kingdom eventually praises the clothing and its magnificence. Upon its completion and unveiling in the town square, only a child speaks out that the emperor is wearing no clothes. Everyone finally admits they see nothing and so does the emperor. The lie is exposed.
Jude, writing about false teachers, used an analogy similar to the story of the emperor's new clothes when he wrote, "These [false teachers] are the men who . . . care for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted . . .
The Hans Christian Anderson story concludes with the con men exposed as frauds for all to see. And it is the ending of that story that we are seeing today from Bethel Church in Redding, California. This is a "church" which dumps chicken feathers (reported to be angel feathers), fog, and glitter out of its ventilation system to simulate a “glory cloud;” it is a church has a supernatural school of healing, and regularly writes and preaches their fables of raising the dead.
This is the church in which the child of Bethel Music CEO, Joel Taylor, was near death when they took him to the hospital to receive treatment. All the boy needed was water. They couldn’t heal the child of dehydration.
This is a church whose leadership claims that they can control the weather, but whose houses burned down when the wind spread the Shasta County fire to their domiciles. Bethel Church in Redding, California is the hub of the faith-healing movement in America. Their main man, Bill Johnson, wrote an article in which he claimed that all believers have the same power and authority as Jesus to heal illness. Johnson said that it's no problem; anyone with enough faith can do it.
The "Sacramento Bee" reported, “On Jan. 31, a woman was approached in the ER at Mercy Medical Center in Redding by two Bethel students from the church's School of Supernatural Ministry. The pair said 'they would pray over the people there and put Jesus in their hearts and this would heal us all and we didn’t need to stay at the ER and could go home,' the woman said in a text message. She asked not to be identified to protect her family’s privacy.” She filed a complaint with the hospital after one of the students touched her 5-year-old daughter without permission.
ENTER CORONA-V
Now, something has changed their healing ministry. The church is advising the faithful to wash their hands, urging those who feel sick to stay home, canceling missionary trips, and advising its faith healers to stay away from local hospitals. Wait. What? Stay away from the very places they ought to be if they can heal people? This is the thing about faith-healing meetings: the con men have to hold their meetings in places where they control the environment. That's why a hospital isn't the place--they can't control it.
One perceptive person asked, "Why aren't Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn hopping on jets, and going to the nations which are most afflicted to heal them?" It's a rhetorical question; we know the answer. "They are clouds without water, autumn trees without fruit"
Friday, March 20, 2020
THE CORONAVIRUS AND THE CHURCH
To quote Thomas Paine out of context, "These are the times that try men's souls." Among the strangest try-ers of men's souls are the ideas being dogmatically proclaimed by various false teachers who, as usual, have no regard for the Bible.
One such false teacher is Kenneth Copeland who is worth $760 million and is the country's richest televangelist. On his TV broadcast, Copeland reaches out his outstretched, glistening hand towards the camera and asks viewers at home to touch their television screens for healing from the virus.
"He spent part of a recent show attempting to heal his viewers of the coronavirus through the TV, literally, by putting up his oddly shiny hands to the camera and instructing people to put their hands on their television sets before reciting a weird prayer. During said prayer, he seemed confused as to what COVID-19 actually is, saying at one point that 'the devil’s trying to give me the flu, or whatever else kind of thing he’s trying.'" (Lindsey Weedston)
Then another pastor, unworthy of the title, said that half his congregation is prepared to lick the floor to prove the virus does not exist. Not to be outdone, Rodney Howard Browne, a pastor in Tampa, Florida, promised to bind the virus from the United States. He also said that the coronavirus pandemic is a plot to "kill off many people" through forced vaccinations. This is the same pastor who said at a revival event in Washington D.C. that he saved America by issuing a restraining order against the antichrist.
Another pastor tells his hearers that he's received a word from God that said that God has ended the virus. Pat Robertson declares that if a person buys and follows his health booklet, he will be immune. Jim Bakker claims his ointment will cure it. As if in competition to win the prize for insane remarks, a New Zealand pastor guarantees that Christians possess a built-in immunity.
Other pastors have stepped forward to claim that the coronavirus is God's discipline on America for allowing same-sex marriages. Another claims the virus was loosed on China because the government restricts freedom of worship, but left it unexplained as to why the disease is in America which doesn't.
Whatever happened to humility? The idea that we know why this scourge has come reminds us of God's interaction with Job as He drills him with 77 questions, all meant to show Job's ignorance. God's intent in the interrogation is for Job to recognize that God has no obligation to explain everything to him. But my oh my, how we hate to say, "I don't know why."
Unfortunately, such huckstering as eagerly reported and shown by the media is the impression millions of people have of Christianity. Awhile back, a late-night TV host showed a film clip of Mrs. Kenneth Copeland instructing viewers not to worry about the flu because "Jesus is your flu shot." The audience howled at the hilarity.
But should the Christian care what people think? Paul says, "Yes. We should definitely care what people think." That's why Paul warned the Corinthians to cease and desist their behavior: "Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ... unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?"
Christ told the disciples to pay the Temple tax even though they had a right not to do so. Jesus said, “Then the sons [of the King] are exempt. However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.” He told them, "Pay it."
Proverbs 22:1 advises: "A good name is to be more desired than great wealth."
Paul also said, "We are ambassadors for Christ." An ambassador represents his country. The believer's citizenship is in heaven. Our words, actions, and attitudes represent Christ to others. We see this principle on every hand in the secular world--when a person is employed by a company, he now represents that corporation and their brand, even to the extent of his grooming, hygiene, and sartorial splendor, i. e. the prescribed dress code of the bank and even the fast-food emporium for which he might work.
These false teachers are absurd, but they are not to be passed off as harmless buffoons. They are, as they have always been, dangerous.
One such false teacher is Kenneth Copeland who is worth $760 million and is the country's richest televangelist. On his TV broadcast, Copeland reaches out his outstretched, glistening hand towards the camera and asks viewers at home to touch their television screens for healing from the virus.
"He spent part of a recent show attempting to heal his viewers of the coronavirus through the TV, literally, by putting up his oddly shiny hands to the camera and instructing people to put their hands on their television sets before reciting a weird prayer. During said prayer, he seemed confused as to what COVID-19 actually is, saying at one point that 'the devil’s trying to give me the flu, or whatever else kind of thing he’s trying.'" (Lindsey Weedston)
Then another pastor, unworthy of the title, said that half his congregation is prepared to lick the floor to prove the virus does not exist. Not to be outdone, Rodney Howard Browne, a pastor in Tampa, Florida, promised to bind the virus from the United States. He also said that the coronavirus pandemic is a plot to "kill off many people" through forced vaccinations. This is the same pastor who said at a revival event in Washington D.C. that he saved America by issuing a restraining order against the antichrist.
Another pastor tells his hearers that he's received a word from God that said that God has ended the virus. Pat Robertson declares that if a person buys and follows his health booklet, he will be immune. Jim Bakker claims his ointment will cure it. As if in competition to win the prize for insane remarks, a New Zealand pastor guarantees that Christians possess a built-in immunity.
Other pastors have stepped forward to claim that the coronavirus is God's discipline on America for allowing same-sex marriages. Another claims the virus was loosed on China because the government restricts freedom of worship, but left it unexplained as to why the disease is in America which doesn't.
Whatever happened to humility? The idea that we know why this scourge has come reminds us of God's interaction with Job as He drills him with 77 questions, all meant to show Job's ignorance. God's intent in the interrogation is for Job to recognize that God has no obligation to explain everything to him. But my oh my, how we hate to say, "I don't know why."
Unfortunately, such huckstering as eagerly reported and shown by the media is the impression millions of people have of Christianity. Awhile back, a late-night TV host showed a film clip of Mrs. Kenneth Copeland instructing viewers not to worry about the flu because "Jesus is your flu shot." The audience howled at the hilarity.
But should the Christian care what people think? Paul says, "Yes. We should definitely care what people think." That's why Paul warned the Corinthians to cease and desist their behavior: "Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ... unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?"
Christ told the disciples to pay the Temple tax even though they had a right not to do so. Jesus said, “Then the sons [of the King] are exempt. However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.” He told them, "Pay it."
Proverbs 22:1 advises: "A good name is to be more desired than great wealth."
Paul also said, "We are ambassadors for Christ." An ambassador represents his country. The believer's citizenship is in heaven. Our words, actions, and attitudes represent Christ to others. We see this principle on every hand in the secular world--when a person is employed by a company, he now represents that corporation and their brand, even to the extent of his grooming, hygiene, and sartorial splendor, i. e. the prescribed dress code of the bank and even the fast-food emporium for which he might work.
These false teachers are absurd, but they are not to be passed off as harmless buffoons. They are, as they have always been, dangerous.
Friday, March 13, 2020
DOUBTING THE MIRACLES?
One of the stumbling blocks for many people when it comes to the Bible are the miracles recorded therein. There are accounts of a bush on fire, but not burning up. There's an account of Christ's walking on water, changing water to wine, healing the deaf, curing the blind, and raising the dead.
The Old Testament records more than a few in addition to that bush in the wilderness, miracles such as a fortified city's walls falling flat, an ax head floating, and even the Red Sea and the Jordan River splitting. The biblical authors record 4 great ages of miracles, three are over and done with, a fourth awaits: the time of Moses and Joshua; the time of Elijah and Elisha; the time of Christ and the apostles; the time of the coming Great Tribulation. There are many miracles listed in the three great ages of miracles which are too numerous to mention, but the point is that the Israelites did not enjoy continuous times of miracles.
Should those recorded miracles be discounted? We could say, "No," because the men who recorded them gave their lives for believing them to be true historical facts, not something they made up and people don't die for what they know to be lies. Peter addressed this when he wrote, "We have not followed cunningly devised fables."
But let's get back to basics. Doing that will take us back to "In the beginning." And "In the beginning takes us back to an everyday miracle we don't consider, but we need to because all else follows.
You're reading this while most likely in a sitting position, immobile, not going anywhere. But, you'd be wrong, really, really wrong. You're actually on the Earth that's rotating at 1,000 miles per hour and flying around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour. You're also in a galaxy that's hurtling itself at a million miles per hour through a universe that's so ordered so that human life can exist in it. (Vince Vitale)
How much thought do we give to this speed, this form, this order, and this precision? All that would be a huge miracle, in fact, the biggest miracle of them all, and if that's the biggest miracle of them all, a burning bush, a floating ax head, etc. would be no problem.
There are only three possibilities concerning the origin of the universe:
1. A personal infinite God as described in the Bible created the universe.
2. The universe with all its form, order, and precision just popped into existence. Something came out of nothing, which has never been seen or known to happen.
3. All this is eternal. But only pushes the problem a step back.
So, once you accept Genesis 1:1 as an accurate recording of how the universe came to be, all the rest, all the miracles, follow logically because Gen. 1:1 records the biggest miracle of them all.
The Old Testament records more than a few in addition to that bush in the wilderness, miracles such as a fortified city's walls falling flat, an ax head floating, and even the Red Sea and the Jordan River splitting. The biblical authors record 4 great ages of miracles, three are over and done with, a fourth awaits: the time of Moses and Joshua; the time of Elijah and Elisha; the time of Christ and the apostles; the time of the coming Great Tribulation. There are many miracles listed in the three great ages of miracles which are too numerous to mention, but the point is that the Israelites did not enjoy continuous times of miracles.
Should those recorded miracles be discounted? We could say, "No," because the men who recorded them gave their lives for believing them to be true historical facts, not something they made up and people don't die for what they know to be lies. Peter addressed this when he wrote, "We have not followed cunningly devised fables."
But let's get back to basics. Doing that will take us back to "In the beginning." And "In the beginning takes us back to an everyday miracle we don't consider, but we need to because all else follows.
You're reading this while most likely in a sitting position, immobile, not going anywhere. But, you'd be wrong, really, really wrong. You're actually on the Earth that's rotating at 1,000 miles per hour and flying around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour. You're also in a galaxy that's hurtling itself at a million miles per hour through a universe that's so ordered so that human life can exist in it. (Vince Vitale)
How much thought do we give to this speed, this form, this order, and this precision? All that would be a huge miracle, in fact, the biggest miracle of them all, and if that's the biggest miracle of them all, a burning bush, a floating ax head, etc. would be no problem.
There are only three possibilities concerning the origin of the universe:
1. A personal infinite God as described in the Bible created the universe.
2. The universe with all its form, order, and precision just popped into existence. Something came out of nothing, which has never been seen or known to happen.
3. All this is eternal. But only pushes the problem a step back.
So, once you accept Genesis 1:1 as an accurate recording of how the universe came to be, all the rest, all the miracles, follow logically because Gen. 1:1 records the biggest miracle of them all.
Friday, March 6, 2020
THE CONSERVATIVE CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER
Charles Krauthammer was a Pulitzer-prize winning author, a political analyst who appeared on our television sets to give us his observations concerning Washington DC and its daily machinations.
He had a persevering spirit in spite of a tragedy that occurred in his youth: An accident as a first-year medical student left him with an injury that altered the course of his life but never slowed his accomplishments.
He comments: "I had a diving accident actually in a swimming pool right on the grounds of Harvard Medical School, off the diving board, my third dive of the day and hit the bottom with my head . . . And my head wasn't hurt at all. I didn't even have a scratch. But it severed my spinal cord, and I was hospitalized for 14 months."
JEWISH
Krauthammer has Jewish roots, went through a bar mitzvah as a young man, but maintained a mostly secular outlook: "I'm not the first to say it. I don't believe in God, but I fear Him greatly." He goes on to say, "Our ability to understand is about akin to that of a snail on the shore of an ocean trying to work out the tides through physics. And that, to me, is our position, understanding the workings of the universe, and the wonderful mysteries, awesome, I mean, literally awesome mysteries that lie behind it."
He was captivated by what he saw as the mystery of it all: "I have enormous respect for [Judaism], and in some sense, I'm not a terribly religious Jew, but I follow some of the rituals, and I do attend on the important days. But when it comes to the relationship to what is out there, to me, it is rather complicated and mysterious."
ASSESSMENT OF ATHEISM
He was perceptive about atheism: "Of all the theologies or anti-theologies, I think atheism is the least plausible of them all. It's not only the irrationality, but it's the coldness, the soullessness of atheism that strikes me. But as to what lies on the other side, I'm the snail on the side of the ocean. I don't even presume to even be able to begin to understand it. All I know is that it's far beyond me, and it deserves reverence and awe."
SNAIL?
Krauthammer sees the human being like a snail in the face of a great unknown. What a far cry that is from what the Bible tells us: man is a special creation and in the image and likeness of God. The human being, a creation possessing intellect, emotion, and will.
I wonder if anyone reached out to him to help him know and understand that "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers [Charles' ancestors] in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world."
I wonder if anyone shared with him John 14:9: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." Or did someone lead him to the classic text, John 1:18: "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." For the mysteries that awed Charles' Krauthammer, there was One who came and explained those awe-inspiring mysteries.
Did anybody write Charles to show him that in Christ's explanation of God many of those mysteries clear up; the human being isn't a snail incapable of understanding. God has spoken and communicated to the human race.
Charles Krauthammer passed into eternity on Jun 21, 2018, age 68. God wept.
He had a persevering spirit in spite of a tragedy that occurred in his youth: An accident as a first-year medical student left him with an injury that altered the course of his life but never slowed his accomplishments.
He comments: "I had a diving accident actually in a swimming pool right on the grounds of Harvard Medical School, off the diving board, my third dive of the day and hit the bottom with my head . . . And my head wasn't hurt at all. I didn't even have a scratch. But it severed my spinal cord, and I was hospitalized for 14 months."
JEWISH
Krauthammer has Jewish roots, went through a bar mitzvah as a young man, but maintained a mostly secular outlook: "I'm not the first to say it. I don't believe in God, but I fear Him greatly." He goes on to say, "Our ability to understand is about akin to that of a snail on the shore of an ocean trying to work out the tides through physics. And that, to me, is our position, understanding the workings of the universe, and the wonderful mysteries, awesome, I mean, literally awesome mysteries that lie behind it."
He was captivated by what he saw as the mystery of it all: "I have enormous respect for [Judaism], and in some sense, I'm not a terribly religious Jew, but I follow some of the rituals, and I do attend on the important days. But when it comes to the relationship to what is out there, to me, it is rather complicated and mysterious."
ASSESSMENT OF ATHEISM
He was perceptive about atheism: "Of all the theologies or anti-theologies, I think atheism is the least plausible of them all. It's not only the irrationality, but it's the coldness, the soullessness of atheism that strikes me. But as to what lies on the other side, I'm the snail on the side of the ocean. I don't even presume to even be able to begin to understand it. All I know is that it's far beyond me, and it deserves reverence and awe."
SNAIL?
Krauthammer sees the human being like a snail in the face of a great unknown. What a far cry that is from what the Bible tells us: man is a special creation and in the image and likeness of God. The human being, a creation possessing intellect, emotion, and will.
I wonder if anyone reached out to him to help him know and understand that "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers [Charles' ancestors] in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world."
I wonder if anyone shared with him John 14:9: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." Or did someone lead him to the classic text, John 1:18: "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." For the mysteries that awed Charles' Krauthammer, there was One who came and explained those awe-inspiring mysteries.
Did anybody write Charles to show him that in Christ's explanation of God many of those mysteries clear up; the human being isn't a snail incapable of understanding. God has spoken and communicated to the human race.
Charles Krauthammer passed into eternity on Jun 21, 2018, age 68. God wept.
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