The A-Z of Christian Living
Slipped into the jacket of an old NAS Bible of my wife’s she found a crisp piece of paper that was given to her by her uncle. On the paper, he had written the A-Z of Christian living. I thought I’d share it here as it’s quite clever:
A
Believer
Can
Devote
Every
Faculty
Given
Him
In
Justice
Kindness
Love and
Mercy,
Never
Omitting
Prayer,
Quietly
Preaching
Scripture,
Taking
Up
Valuable
Works
Xhibiting
unYieldingness in
Zeal… Continue reading ...
How to spark revival in your church
If your church is wanning in the Spirit and is in need of a rejuvenation, all your congregation may need is the blessing of a squirrel-lead revival.
Praise God!
(Enjoy.)
[youtube]K16fG1sDagU[/youtube]
(H/Tip to Dennis G Hurst, via Facebook.)… Continue reading ...
Quote: the necessity of biblical preaching and reading in church worship
Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the Word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced. Indeed, it is their unnatural divorce which accounts for the low levels of so much contemporary worship. Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor. And our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the word of God is expounded in its fulness and the congregation begins to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before his throne. And it is preaching which accomplishes this. The proclamation of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit… Continue reading ...
Senator X takes Church of Scientology to task
South Australian Independent Senator, Nick Xenophon, brought Scientology back to Australian political and public headlines last Tuesday (17th Nov), by accusing the Church of Scientology of being a deceptive, malicious commercial enterprise, masquerading as a religion for protection.
And … he’s right. In the very words of Scientology founder, Ron L Hubbard, the organisation exists to “Make money. Make more money. Make others produce so as to make money . . . However you get them in or why, just do it.”. There is no religious function at all, really. The practices of the organisation as a whole is nothing short of being just a spectacular rort.
Rather than Senator Xenophon’s address regarding the evils of Scientology being taken… Continue reading ...
Classic Hymns: All to Jesus I surrender
A young man, wealthy, honoured and respected amongst his peers for his scriptural knowledge and commitment to the teachings of Jewish law, approached Jesus and asked him the words: “Good Teacher – what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus replied. “None are good except for God.”
And then, in direct response to the young man’s initial question, Jesus states: “You know your commandments: Do not murder; do not steal; do not commit adultery; honour your father and mother. You keep all these things but there is yet one thing further that you must do: go, sell everything that you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in… Continue reading ...
One for your calendar: International Blasphemy Day, 30 Sept 2009
Wednesday, 30 September 2009 will mark the inaugural International Blasphemy Day, a day on which the people are called to, well, blaspheme anything religious through whatever show of irreverence they can conjure. Organised by the Center for Inquiry International, an organisation dedicated to fostering “a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values”, claims that the day has been set aside “to encourage free expression” the world over and are even running a contest to mark the date.
Says the Center for Inquiry: “How can we come to our own conclusions about religion if we can’t freely examine and discuss it?” Apparently, in order to do so, you need to have a t-shirt, which 5 lucky… Continue reading ...
Church attendee != a Christian
[This is a repost, word for word, of an earlier article. I've deleted the original because, over the last several weeks, it has consistently attracted several spam comments per day ... and I've had enough of clearing them from my auto-spam queue. Needless to say, going by the links the spammers want you to visit, there's a lot of sick puppies out there! Why they chose this one post and none others is beyond me. Hopefully, they don't start tagging other articles!]
In computer science the relational expression != is code for not equal to. So the meaning of the title of this post essentially reads: church attendee is not equal to being a Christian. In more layman’s language, just because you religiously attend church does not mean that… Continue reading ...
How you can reasonably believe that the sky is green (and why Christianity is reasonable)
The objections to belief in God in general, and to Christianity and its God in particular, are many and varied. It’s important to note, however, that the quantity and variety of objections have no bearing on the truth claims that Christianity makes – you really only need one solid objection that can withstand scrutiny and refutation to pull Christianity down. So quality, not quantity is what is required here.
Recently I found a forum thread* that was seeking responses from non-Christians about the “dealbreakers” that prevent them from believing in/exploring Christianity. That is, what are the lynch-pin reasons that prevent them from taking Christianity seriously. This query, put forward on an otherwise very liberally-minded, left-leaning technology site, has flung up some tired-old objections that seasoned Christians… Continue reading ...
Quote: God doesn’t promise Christians an end to their troubles
When a man turns to Christ and seems to be getting on pretty well … he often feels that it would now be natural if things went fairly smoothly. When troubles come along – illness, money troubles, new kinds of temptations – he is disappointed. These things, he feels, might have been necessary to rouse him and make him repent in his bad old days; but why now? Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level: putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving, than he ever dreamed of being before. It seems to us all unnecessary but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing [God] means… Continue reading ...
Gideons distribute bibles to local Texan school
Gideons International came under fire last month in Texas after parents learned that the Christian organisation was permitted by Frisco Independent Schools to distribute pocket bibles at public schools within its district. The move was viewed by some parents as a breach of trust by the school board and complaints were lodged shortly after it became apparent that the Gideons were allowed to setup a display table on school grounds. Bibles and other biblical materials were left on the tables, free for students to browse at their leisure – there was no canvassing by Gideon staff. The choice was always given the student, without harassment.
I had just started high school (age 12) when I first heard of the Gideons. I… Continue reading ...
Was Ethan McNamee manipulated by pro-GLBT lobbyists?
While researching my earlier article on the pro-gay marriage rally speech performed by nine year-old Ethan McNamee, one thing I noticed on the various GLBT blogs were comments that conservatives claimed Ethan was manipulated.
I don’t really know if this claim is substantiated; I couldn’t even find a conservative blog or news article that covered the event in which this view was apparently put forward. Perhaps I didn’t delve deep enough into the Google search results? Or I just didn’t read through the many comments left by people on the news sites and blogs that had articles on the subject?
While I don’t personally ascribed to the notion that Ethan was manipulated, I believe it is… Continue reading ...
18+: Christian media – Church services to follow?
Anyone who says that the legalisation of homosexuality in general, and the legalisation of same-sex marriage in particular, is “just a progression of civil rights” – think again. The Brazilian government is considering on labelling Christian media content with viewing warnings of 18+.
From the article published on www.lifesitenews.com:
Brazil’s Secretary of Justice reportedly told Folha that, while such programming would be restricted to after 11 pm, “the ideal is that they not be shown at any time.”
If carried out in accordance with Brazilian President Luiz Lula’s definition of “homophobia,” the new restrictions will effectively ban public statements on television that identify homosexual behavior as sinful and/or unhealthy.
“Pornographic sex education classes that praise homosexuality cannot be rated as ‘unsuitable for children and teens,’ because… Continue reading ...
Responses to 50 reasons why religion sucks, pt.5 of 5
“50 reasons why religion sucks” – Day 5 of 5!
This is the final installment lot of 10 so-called “reasons” as to why religion sucks. This follows the previous part four post of Responses to 50 reasons why religion sucks.
- Part 1 – Responses 1 through to 10
- Part 2 – Responses 11 through to 20
- Part 3 – Responses 21 through to 30
- Part 4 – Responses 31 through to 40
- Part 5 – Responses 41 through to 50
Following are responses to “objections” 41 through to 50.
41) No “miracles” have been documented
Let me see … there’s this compilation of books that seems to refute this claim. I’m having trouble thinking of the name… Continue reading ...
Responses to 50 reasons why religion sucks, pt.4 of 5
“50 reasons why religion sucks” – Day 4 of 5!
This is the fourth installment lot of 10 so-called “reasons” as to why religion sucks. This follows the previous part three post of Responses to 50 reasons why religion sucks.
- Part 1 – Responses 1 through to 10
- Part 2 – Responses 11 through to 20
- Part 3 – Responses 21 through to 30
- Part 4 – Responses 31 through to 40
- Part 5 – Responses 41 through to 50
Following are responses to “objections” 31 through to 40.
31) Discriminates against free thinkers
Who are the “free thinkers”? Those that side with your view and your view only? Do you not consider or are you not… Continue reading ...
Responses to 50 reasons why religion sucks, pt.3 of 5
“50 reasons why religion sucks” – Day 3 of 5!
This is the third installment lot of 10 so-called “reasons” as to why religion sucks. This follows the previous part two post of Responses to 50 reasons why religion sucks.
- Part 1 – Responses 1 through to 10
- Part 2 – Responses 11 through to 20
- Part 3 – Responses 21 through to 30
- Part 4 – Responses 31 through to 40
- Part 5 – Responses 41 through to 50
Following are responses to “objections” 21 through to 30.
21) Does not explain life before life
Does it need to? If so, why? Does your life suck because you have no conscious recollection of what it was… Continue reading ...
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