“spiritual but not religious” Creation vs Evolution: Does it really matter? « Shibboleth. The science and faith debate seems set to continue to rumble on for the foreseeable future. With Richard Dawkins making programmes about faith schools and interviewing American fundamentalists there is no end of debates taking place. Christians often feel inadequate in the face of such a debate and when non-christian friends start asking questions we often feel unable to give an adequate response. There are many Christians who see this as a hot issue and have spent hours researching it all so they can give an answer when ask for the reason for their faith. I think that it is really important that there are Christians who have an in-depth knowledge of science and can discuss and debate the finer details with a sceptical public but at the end of the day I wonder whether it really matters all that much. What I mean is, does it really matter whether God created in six days or through an evolutionary process which took millions of years?
WHAT WE ARE FREE TO BELIEVE is how God did this. My priest sent this to everyone in the parish. WTF : self. Just-do-it-1eanxbo.jpg (JPEG Image, 400x619 pixels) Nothing but the Blood! « Reflections in the WORD. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” ~ 1 Peter 1:18-19 These two wonderful verses come to us out of a section of Scripture that is addressing holy living. Peter is reminding us, as God’s children, that a very high price was paid for our redemption!
The cross cost Him everything: He sacrificed Himself so that we can have eternal life in heaven by simply placing our trust in Him and that sinless blood. The blood of Jesus that flowed down that from cross cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7). Some treat the blood of Christ as nothing special, they say it was no different from any other blood, but that is NOT what God says in His Word. God is very clear on the purpose of the blood of Christ, only those who walk in darkness think that there is any other way to be saved!
"You can safely assume you've created God in your own image..." : Christianity. Luke 9:10-17 - Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand : biblestudy. Wedding Notebook - Order of Worship. The Importance of Hell - redeemer.com. By Tim Keller In 2003 a research group discovered 64% of Americans expect to go to heaven when they die, but less than 1% think they might go to hell. Not only are there plenty of people today who don't believe in the Bible's teaching on everlasting punishment, even those who do find it an unreal and a remote concept. Nevertheless, it is a very important part of the Christian faith, for several reasons. 1. It is important because Jesus taught about it more than all other Biblical authors put together. Jesus speaks of "eternal fire and punishment" as the final abode of the angels and human beings who have rejected God (Matthew 25:41,46) He says that those who give into sin will be in danger of the "fire of hell" (Matthew 5:22; 18:8-9.)
The word Jesus uses for 'hell' is Gehenna, a valley in which piles of garbage were daily burned as well as the corpses of those without families who could bury them. Jesus constantly depicted hell as painful fire and "outer darkness" (Matt 25:30; cf. 2. 3. A Biblical View of Social Justice | The Christian Worldview. Posted by John Wheaton | Sunday, November 2, 2008 | 7:45 pm CT Christian Social Justice: “Life is Just not Fair!” By John Wheaton, J.D. Life is just not fair. Is it fair that Tiger Woods makes millions for playing a game of leisure while the average person struggles to pay the bills working 50-60 hours a week? Even worse, is it fair that some people are born into extreme wealth and freedom while others must live and often die in dire poverty or under severe oppression? No, life is not fair; unfairness is inherent in the human condition.
But life can and should be just. In matters of social concern, the biblical Christian should know God’s heart well. What is Social Justice? First, it is essential that Christians clearly define what social justice entails. Generally, social justice has two key components: More specifically, social justice deals with three areas of social concern: economic justice,remedial justice, anddistributive justice. E. “… [G]ood and just results are the ultimate test. Five Words That Could Save the Church - FoxNews.com. Where We Dare Not Go « Glory to God for All Things. My previous article spoke about the “moment” and the unique place it holds within our lives. It is strange, therefore, that the present moment is a place we seem to avoid – a place we dare not go. There are many ways to speculate about such an avoidance.
In the experience of many, it is a place that seems almost impossible to read – which is strange indeed when we consider the fact that it is actually the only thing truly present to us. The present moment, however, has some unique properties in human experience that make it a place we prefer to avoid. It is not past or future – and is thus much less subject to imagination.
The imagination is a place where we find ourselves empowered, though the power we have is delusional and only destructive of the self. The same, of course, is true of the future. These things are vitally important to us as Christians. This danger cannot be eliminated by artificial substitutes such as the “authority of Scripture.” Actually, that's not in the Bible. By John Blake, CNN (CNN) - NFL legend Mike Ditka was giving a news conference one day after being fired as the coach of the Chicago Bears when he decided to quote the Bible. “Scripture tells you that all things shall pass,” a choked-up Ditka said after leading his team to only five wins during the previous season. “This, too, shall pass.” Ditka fumbled his biblical citation, though. The phrase “This, too, shall pass” doesn’t appear in the Bible. Ditka was quoting a phantom scripture that sounds like it belongs in the Bible, but look closer and it’s not there.
Ditka’s biblical blunder is as common as preachers delivering long-winded public prayers. These phantom passages include: “God helps those who help themselves.” “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” And there is this often-cited paraphrase: Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden. None of those passages appear in the Bible, and one is actually anti-biblical, scholars say. “Only a few catch on.” Consider these two: Where your mind is. Sixty-Six Clouds | Word Cloud Bible. Christianity. Gay Christians Tell Their Stories | Stillforus. For most of us, several years pass between the day we first admit to ourselves that we’re gay and the day we first admit to another person that we’re gay.
As Christians, that “incubation time” is filled with a powerful mix of emotions and questions. We’re afraid, lonely, and confused. We’re ashamed of the things our bodies want to do. We’re frustrated that we can’t control our desires and properly “repent.” We want to serve God, love Jesus, and worship with our family and friends… but wonder if this is a life gay men and women are allowed to live. My coming out process would have been so much easier if I had known other gay Christian men and women… people who could have told me it’s possible to live as an openly gay person and still worship God in a church on Sunday morning. That’s why it’s so incredibly important for those of us who have walked this road to share the story of how we found the strength to live as gay Christians.
Read the full story here. Like this: Like Loading... Essentials and Non-Essentials in a Nutshell. We Evangelicals talk a lot about essentials and non-essentials. Rightly so. We talk about distinguishing between those areas in our faith – those doctrines – which are central or “cardinal” doctrines, and those which are not so important. However, we often have trouble when someone asks us to define, distinguish, and defend this whole “essentials/non-essentials” distinction. I have written on this many times, but I am going to attempt to be somewhat comprehensive here. That translates to “long article forthcoming.” But I think that this exercise is representative of a pressing issue in Christian discipleship. So put on your seat belt.
At the Credo House of Theology (our headquarters in Edmond, Oklahoma), right when you walk in the front door, you see written on the wall the Latin words in necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas. I remember hearing a pastor once say concerning doctrine, “You are either one-hundred percent right or one-hundred percent wrong. 1. 2. 3. Think you know about religion in America? You don't. Here's some perspective. : atheism.
Worshipping the Irrational Jesus : Christianity. What Love Wins Tells Us About Christians - (Private Browsing) John Piper Interviews Rick Warren on Doctrine Desiring God 2011 Regional Conference Saddleback Church - Desiring God - (Private Browsing) JOHN PIPER INTERVIEWS RICK WARREN AT SADDLEBACK : Apprising Ministries - (Private Browsing) *UPDATE* Since this article went online at Apprising Ministries the page to the interview of Rick Warren by John Piper appears to have vanished. However, I was able to retrieve the video page—at least for now. AM already has the pdf transcript on file and put it at the bottom of this piece, but unfortunately right now it doesn’t seem to appear at the website. Unfortunately well-respected evangelical pastor Dr. John Piper exhibited a real error in judgment when he invited Dr. Rick Warren who, because of bullying tactics so often used in hostile Purpose Driven Church takeovers, I refer to as The Purpose Driven Pope[1] to be the keynote speaker at the Desiring God Conference 2010.
For too brief a time it opened up a bit of a Warrengate across the blogosphere as more and more people found out; and as a precious few of the big “names” within evangelicalism weighed in. Apprising Ministries has been keeping you apprised as to it all as best I can. Dr. (Online source) (Online source) Really? John Piper Interviews Rick Warren on Doctrine - Desiring God - (Private Browsing)
This 98 minute interview that I did with Rick Warren was recorded on May 1, 2011, during the Desiring God Regional Conference at Saddleback Church. It's the fulfillment of a commitment we made when Rick was not able to come in person to the Desiring God National Conference in Minneapolis in October, 2010. The nature of the interview is mainly doctrinal. I read Rick’s The Purpose Driven Life with great care.
I brought 20 pages of quotes and questions to the interview. You will hear me quote the book dozens of times. My aim in this interview is to bring out and clarify what Rick Warren believes about these biblical doctrines. Rick is not known for being a doctrinal preacher. Rick and I are very different in methodological instincts and inclinations. We both have chosen risky ways. Let this remarkable testimony of faith send you down into the Word of God for a deeper understanding of God and his ways. Welcome to WorshipTeam.com, the new workspace for the worshiping church. Get your worship team, music ministry and team members all the music, scheduling and tools they need to plan and practice for your events and activities at your local church. - (Priv.
The Kings English - 100 phrases in 3 Minutes [HD] - (Private Browsing) In ancient china there was a punishment so severe it involved killing just about every living generation in a persons family before they actually killed the person convicted. : todayilearned. The Whitest Kids fucking nailed it. : politics.
Is Hell Dead? Theopoetics: Si(g)ns of Copulation - Downing - 2010 - CrossCurrents. Why College Students Are Losing Their Religion - Conor Friedersdorf - Politics. Do university professors really possess the power to make students more secular? Dennis Prager, as thoughtful a voice as you'll find on talk radio, has a new column up in National Review that presumes "God isn't doing well" and tries to explain why. His initial theory is that "increasingly large numbers of men and women attend university," and that "the agenda of Western universities is to produce (left-wing) secularists. " Let's say for the sake of argument that most institutions of higher education really were trying at their core to produce left-wing secularists (a motive I very much doubt).
How on earth would they succeed? Typically a faculty member has one or two classes at most with a given student. Often as not these are giant introductory classes on subjects unrelated to religion. Am I to believe that the subset of professors out to secularize their students are so persuasive that in this short interval, they successfully propagandize them into abandoning God? The Bible Wasn't Written To You - A book by David Ker - page 2. Jordan battles to regain 'priceless' Christian relics. 29 March 2011Last updated at 06:30 By Robert Pigott BBC News religious affairs correspondent They could be the earliest Christian writing in existence, surviving almost 2,000 years in a Jordanian cave. They could, just possibly, change our understanding of how Jesus was crucified and resurrected, and how Christianity was born.
A group of 70 or so "books", each with between five and 15 lead leaves bound by lead rings, was apparently discovered in a remote arid valley in northern Jordan somewhere between 2005 and 2007. A flash flood had exposed two niches inside the cave, one of them marked with a menorah or candlestick, the ancient Jewish religious symbol. A Jordanian Bedouin opened these plugs, and what he found inside might constitute extremely rare relics of early Christianity.
That is certainly the view of the Jordanian government, which claims they were smuggled into Israel by another Bedouin. Jordan says it will "exert all efforts at every level" to get the relics repatriated.