January 2004 Archive
The Passion & Pragmatism (01/31/04 - 11 Comments)
I have indicated several times that I have concerns with the upcoming movie The Passion of the Christ. I would like to provide some information about why I have those concerns. Primarily, the concerns stem from the fact that my church is going to be heavily invested in this movie. Until I discovered my church’s plans in regard to the film I had little interest in it. But then my pastors have announced that they...
Blog of the Week - Ochuk's Blog (01/31/04 - 1 Comments)
I recently stumbled across Ochuk's Blog and have added it to my daily list of stops. Adam Omelianchuk writes "reflections on theology and faith mixed with a touch of politics and a dash of humor." He writes honest, inquiring interesting articles that make me think...and I like that....
Book Review - Whatever Happened To The Gospel of Grace? (01/30/04 - 0 Comments)
“Whatever Happened To The Gospel of Grace?” is exactly the sort of book you might expect a traditional, Reformed pastor and theologian to leave as his final message to the world, for before this book was published, James Boice, long-time pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia went to be with the Lord. This book stands as a call to the church to rediscover the principles upon which the Protestant church was built. It was...
Fabulous Faith (01/29/04 - 3 Comments)
Last night I found myself flipping through channels and happened across a show entitled “The Fabulous Lifestyle of…” Each episode showcases the life of a different celebrity or celebrity couple. The episode I saw featured what they called Hollywood’s most popular couple, Brad and Jen (which refers, of course, to Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston). Their marriage several years ago was likened to the merger or two major corporations as the hottest movie star married...
The Bible's Sufficiency (01/28/04 - 5 Comments)
I do not often use terms like “God showed me” or “God has been teaching me.” Perhaps it stems from my upbringing in churches where people simply did not speak like that, or perhaps I generally do not stop long enough to consider where God is working in my life. It could be that I grow tired of it being used so flippantly by so many Christians (ie “God told me to leave the established...
All Caught Up (01/27/04 - 3 Comments)
I think I'm now all caught up with book reviews, so won't be posting any more for at least a few days! I've somehow managed to read 8 books so far this year. That could have something to do with the scowls my wife has been giving me when I plunk down on the couch and disappear into a book for a couple of hours. Now I need to move on to doing some more...
Book Review - How To Get The Most From God's Word (01/27/04 - 0 Comments)
For a book that seems to indicate it will help the reader learn how to study God’s Word, How To Get The Most From God’s Word contains very little teaching on that subject. That is not to say, though, that it is not an excellent book. I read this book in the hopes that it would coach me on methods for more fulfilling Bible study. It turns out, though, that the bulk of this book...
Book Review - When Good Men Are Tempted (01/27/04 - 2 Comments)
After reviewing the deeply flawed “Every Man’s Battle I mentioned that I would read another book with the same theme of sexual purity. To that end I purchased “When Good Men Are Tempted” by Bill Perkins. It is an honest and often disturbing look at the subject. The book claims that “Bill Perkins details a plan for sexual integrity – one that works. He shows men how to achieve a purity that will preserve the...
Book Review - Outgrowing The Ingrown Church (01/27/04 - 0 Comments)
I finished this book almost ten days ago and have not yet been able to write a satisfactory review of it. I began several times, but each time found I was missing some important aspect of it. I believe the source of my trouble is that I read this book only after reading many others that came after. If I had read this book when it was published (1986) I would seen it as groundbreaking....
My (Mostly) Christian Music Collection (01/26/04 - 33 Comments)
I have a large collection of Christian music. I received my introduction to Christian music in 1990 when my friend had me listen to a Petra tape. Just for historical purposes, that album was Beyond Belief. I was intrigued by the music and shortly after purchased Beyond Belief and Petrafied (a Petra compilation). That was the beginning of something of an obsession with Christian music. Though I cannot afford to buy as much as I...
The Passion of the Christ Updates (01/26/04 - 7 Comments)
Scouring the news sites I came up with some interesting links in regards to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. Hollywood Jesus has a review. You may want to turn down your speakers because the movie's trailer plays automatically when you go to the site. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the review. The Washington Times has an article about Christian leaders as well as some Jewish leaders who saw the...
Book Review - Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith (01/26/04 - 3 Comments)
To study Abraham Lincoln is to study character. I would be hard-pressed to think of a person who lived since the time of Christ that so fully embodied the qualities and character of a Christian. He was a man who lived with humble faith and firm convictions and seemed always to direct himself by what was right. Perhaps no other character in history other than Jesus has been written about as much as Abraham Lincoln....
Book Review - Christian Handbook (01/26/04 - 1 Comments)
Christian Handbook is subtitled “A straightforward guide to the Bible, church history and Christian doctrine.” Written by Peter Jeffrey (a pastor in the United Kingdom) the book presents a wonderful introduction to the foundations and teachings of Reformed Christianity. The book begins with an examination of the Bible. It first examines how the Bible was written and compiled and then moves to a short overview of each of the Testaments with their settings and teachings....
The Rules of Freedom (01/25/04 - 3 Comments)
I wrote this article a few weeks ago, but have decided to repost it as part of the Blogger Idol competition being held by a fellow blogger. This week's theme has to do with freedom and I thought this article fit the bill. Enjoy! There is a misconception about Christianity whereby non-Christians seem to think that Christians live their lives burdened by myriads of unfair and outdated rules. Though some of these rules are perceived...
Sunday Reflection: Take Back Your Sabbath (01/25/04 - 9 Comments)
The following article, entitled Take Back Your Sabbath is taken from Christianity Today. NORTH AMERICA'S largest purveyor of Christian merchandise recently began opening its 315 stores on Sunday afternoons. Family Christian Stores touted its decision as a way to expand ministry opportunity. According to a press release, the firm sees it as a way of fulfilling its "calling to provide … Bibles, books and other Christian resources to meet their [customers'] needs—when their needs arise"...
Blog of the Week - CoffeeSwirls (01/24/04 - 1 Comments)
This week's Blog of the Week is CoffeeSwirls owned and operated by Doug McHone. The site's biggest feature is a daily devotional as Doug writes each day about his one-year journey through the Bible. He allows you to sign up for a newsletter to receive his Weekly Bible Readings via email. He also dedicates some time to writing about family and football. Theology, the Bible and football. What more could a guy want?...
A New Look (01/23/04 - 7 Comments)
I am changing the look of the site tonight, so please bear with me if things look a bit off for the next couple of hours. Update. Well that didn't take as long as I thought it might. Looks like just about everything is moved over - or at least as much as I care to do tonight. I still have to update the photos section, but that shouldn't take long. Let me know what...
Challies Dot Com F.A.Q. (01/23/04 - 6 Comments)
What Do You Believe? What's Your Theology? Etc… I am… Christian - I affirm that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour. Protestant - I affirm the five "solas" of the Reformation. Reformed - I affirm the principles known as Calvinism. Evangelical - I believe the gospel (which is the original and truest meaning of "evangelical"). Fundamentalist - I believe in "a return to fundamental principles and a strong or rigid adherence to these principles." Conservative...
My Concerns With The Passion of the Christ (01/23/04 - 36 Comments)
The Passion of the Christ goes against everything I believe in. Or more accurately, it goes against everything I was raised to believe in. In the tradition I was raised (Canadian Reformed Church) movies were generally regarded as a sinful form of entertainment. Going to a theatre was to bring oneself into the “playground of the ungodly.” Portraying Christ in any way, even in a picture in a child’s story Bible was considered wrong. And...
Mel Gibson Spreads Passion (01/22/04 - 1 Comments)
The following article is taken from E Online. Mel Gibson wants moviegoers to get their fill of The Passion of the Christ. The Hollywood star's Icon Productions has announced plans, along with indie distributor Newmarket Films, to release his controversial movie about the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ on 2,000 screens in theaters nationwide on February 25, Ash Wednesday....
The Passion of the Christ (01/22/04 - 3 Comments)
Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ is due to hit theatres on February 25, 2004. This movie has received universal acclaim from Christians who have seen it with reviews ranging from positive to ecstatic. Many are saying that this movie represents the greatest opportunity for evangelism and outreach that they have seen in their lifetimes. As a matter of fact, the movie is proclaiming itself the greatest outreach opportunity in the past 2000...
The Study of the Study of God (01/21/04 - 2 Comments)
Theology has become a bad word in Christian circles. It seems that theology is linked in people’s minds with cold, dead religion that cares more about principles and matters of the head than deeds and matters of the heart. It is associated with fundamentalism and with cold conservatism. Yet if we look at the meaning and etymology of the word we cannot help but conclude that God requires all Christians to be theologians. The word...
Book Review - Knowing Scripture (01/20/04 - 4 Comments)
One of Satan’s greatest triumphs is in convincing Christians to abandon the Bible, or at least keeping them from really mining its depths. He tries to convince us that the Bible is outdated, unimportant or less important than many other things. He tries to convince us that it is difficult to understand and that we should rely on others to interpret it for us. R.C. Sproul wrote Knowing Scripture early in his career to address...
Our Role In Evangelism (01/19/04 - 2 Comments)
I have been seeking to understand how God works in the conversion of souls. The more research I do, the more I realize that many standard evangelistic practices must be flawed, for it seems we often try to do the work that God tells us He needs to do. Here is a list of some of the things we can and cannot do in evangelizing. Things we cannot do. We cannot help others realize the...
Sunday Reflection (01/18/04 - 0 Comments)
Today is the last Sunday Reflection for a while that will contain a hymn. I promise! This is a hymn written by Christopher Wordsworth that celebrates the Lord's Day, looks back at the first Sabbath as celebrated by God at the close of Creation, and looks forward to each upcoming Sunday, as "Each Sunday finds us gladder, nearer to heaven, our home." O day of rest and gladness, of day of joy and light, O...
Beautiful, Scandalous Night (01/17/04 - 7 Comments)
Two days ago I wrote about Mel Gibson�s upcoming movie The Passion of the Christ. I asked the questions �If my wife was brutally murdered, would I want to see a movie about it? If I love Jesus more than my wife, why would I want to see a graphic, brutal portrayal of His death?� At that time I was looking at Jesus� death as the most wicked, terrible crime ever committed. And it was....
Quotes - Biblical Interpretation (01/16/04 - 7 Comments)
Yesterday I posted a Review of Biblical Hermeneutics. In reading and researching the topic of hermeneutics (Biblical interpretation) I ran across a few interesting quotes. I hold that the words of Scripture were intended to have one definite sense, and adhere rigidly to it…To say the words do mean a thing merely because they can be tortured into meaning it is a most dishonorable and dangerous way of handling Scripture. J.C. Ryle God sometimes blesses...
The Passion of the Christ (01/15/04 - 8 Comments)
Thousands of churches are still in the midst of Rick Warren’s 40 Days of Purpose and little do they know that if they do not hurry it up, they are going to miss out on the best outreach opportunity of the past 2000 years! Yes indeed, Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of The Christ” is proclaiming itself just that. They have even created a Web site geared specifically to this purpose. I have to admit,...
Book Review - Biblical Hermeneutics (01/15/04 - 0 Comments)
There are some books I can read in an evening or two and feel like I have a good grasp of what the book is all about. There are others that I can pour over hour after hour and still feel like I am only scratching the surface of the book. Evangelical Hermeneutics falls into the latter category. Though not an easy read, this book is rewarding. Hermeneutics is one of the steps used in...
Belong & Believe (01/14/04 - 7 Comments)
The church has traditionally positioned itself as a place for those who believe to find a place where they can belong. As the church changes and evolves with the times there is a trend to make the church a place where anyone can belong regardless of whether or not they believe. Having people who wish to belong without believing does not a crisis for many modern churches. Churches that subscribe to the “belong and believe”...
New Site? (01/13/04 - 5 Comments)
I have managed to acquire a good bit of Web space and for just a few dollars can get setup with a new Web site. I am undecided if at this time I want to do that, but do have a couple of ideas for a second site. My first idea was based around Web design. I thought about creating a site that would be to effectiveness in design what Cool Home Pages is to...
Biblical Worldview (01/13/04 - 1 Comments)
Every month or so I like to drop by George Barna’s site to read his updates, which are generally published every two weeks or so. In case you are not familiar with Barna Research Group, it “is a full-service marketing research company located in Ventura, California. BRG has been providing information and analysis regarding cultural trends and the Christian Church since 1984.” Essentially he does surveys and polls of the Christian community or of the...
Book Review - Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life (01/12/04 - 140 Comments)
Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life is a runaway bestseller, having already sold over ten million copies, making it one of the best-selling Christian books of all time. Thousands of churches have committed to leading their congregations through the Forty Days of Purpose program. I decided to spend forty days journaling my way through this book to try to determine what they hype is all about. The Purpose Driven Life proclaims itself to be “more...
Football Talk (01/12/04 - 1 Comments)
Forgive me if I deviate from my usual theological themes to discuss America's other religion for a moment... A weekend like this makes me wonder why I love football so much. Going into this weekend I was cheering for the Rams, Titans, Packers and Chiefs. Incredibly enough, all four of those teams managed to lose their games. How depressing! Being a Rams fan, I was especially upset to see them lose. It was incredible to...
Sunday Reflection (01/11/04 - 0 Comments)
This week's Sunday Reflection comes courtesy of John Newton and his hymn, Safely Through Another Week. It is a song of thanks for another week of safety and a song of petition, that we may feel God's presence near to us during the upcoming week. Safely through another week God has brought us on our way; Let us now a blessing seek, on th’approaching Sabbath day; Day of all the week the best, emblem of...
Rick Warren - The Purpose Driven Life (01/10/04 - 0 Comments)
I recently completed a critical (by which I mean in-depth) study of Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life. I went through each chapter of the book not only reading what he had to say but also looking up each and every Biblical proof-text he used (more than 1200 in all), paying special attention to his use of the Bible (since that is the greatest criticism of his detractors). You can trace my journey below. Purpose...
Blog of the Week - Blogs4God (01/10/04 - 1 Comments)
This week's Blog of the Week is Blogs4God. This site is both a Weblog and a listing of over 900 other Christian blogs. The various blogs are divided into several categories, each of which has an editor who, at least once a week, writes an introduction to some of the topics being written about in those blogs. The definition of Christianity is a bit loose, but on there are many valuable links on that site....
Basic Christianity (Christianity 101) (01/09/04 - 0 Comments)
At the request of a few people I have begun a series examining the basic teachings of Christianity. Consider it something of a "Christianity 101." The series is intended for two main audiences. The first is people who are not Christians and are seeking to know something about this faith. The second is people who are Christians but may have only a basic knowledge of Christianity. In order to reach these audiences I have purposely...
Protestant Confession (01/08/04 - 1 Comments)
A Web site I visited recently which seeks to explain Catholic doctrine and beliefs to Protestants contained the statement “Protestants do not believe in confession.” The statement is incorrect insofar as Protestants do not practice auricular confession (confessing ones’ sins to a priest in order to receive forgiveness). That statement along with others I have seen shows that there is a misunderstanding about the Protestant view of confession. That God calls us to confess our...
Buffet-Line Religion (01/07/04 - 2 Comments)
A few days ago I had a lunch appointment with a group of church planters connected with my church. One of them was supposed to cook for us but there was a miscommunication and we were forced to find a restaurant where we could eat. We ended up heading to Pizza Hut for their all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. In case you are not familiar with their lunch special, I’ll give the details. In the middle of...
