"It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir

Read the rest of this entry »

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.         C S Lewis

 

Well, just as I suspected, the thought police had a field day with TWW's Beth Moore post. I was called foolish and silly and given a Bible verse about being foolish and silly. Since a Bible verse was used, I must be indubitably, undeniably and most definitively,  foolish and silly.

 

Interestingly, I read a blog post written by one of Beth Moore’s daughters. She defended her mother and I found her feelings understandable. However, the comments by her readers made me shake my head. Moore’s daughter discussed the Christianity Today article. Several women commented that they NEVER read magazines or newspapers because they couldn’t trust them. Yet, they could not see that they trust a fallible individual to always give them the full and absolute truth. In their eyes, Beth Moore’s view on life rises to the level of Scripture. They never read a different point of view outside of their own little circles and as such, never get a chance to intelligently formulate their own perspectives. Somehow, I believe that Beth Moore might encourage them differently.

 

Years ago, I was in another yet attempt at an all women’s Bible study. One woman spoke passionately about how Proctor and Gamble executives were “Satan worshippers.” I could not contain myself. I asked where she had heard such drivel. She claimed that they appeared on the Phil Donahue show and said this. I asked her if she had witnessed it herself. She was nodding, as if she had, when I said that this was a lie and that Christians should be ashamed of themselves for passing on such twaddle. I told her that Proctor and Gamble was aggressively pursuing legal claims against those who were spreading that lie and that the majority of reports were coming out of churches. Churches, mind you, that are supposed to be followers of the One who called Himself the Truth!
 

Through the years I have been the recipient of emails that spread unfounded accusations (Obama was born in the Middle East, for one) and claim they are the truth. Most of them are from supposed Christians who seem to have a penchant for spreading this stuff. I have even received this claptrap from pastors. Today, we are able to quickly check facts on sites such as Snopes. But I guess it takes a couple of extra clicks instead of easily mashing the forward button,
 

There are many in the church who are insulated and, as such,  self talk amongst a select group of exact minded people. As such, they rarely look outside their own biases for a different point of view. Mind you, I am not saying that a different point of view is necessarily right but different perspectives can often bring depth to an opinion.

 

Read the rest of this entry »

"Most of us began our journey into faith with trusting hearts.  Yet incidents of abuse, media accounts of perverted religion, personal disappointment, loss, betrayal, and even unrealistic expectations of God can cause us to develop a warped or damaged view of faith.  Too often, what began as an authentic relationship with God deteriorates into a defective faith with an incomplete or poisoned view of God — one that allows the religion, not the relationship with God, to control our life."     Stephen Arterburn

Read the rest of this entry »

A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven.

Read the rest of this entry »

Why lies He in such a mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding?

 

NOTE: We will publish only Monday and Tuesday this week. Merry Christmas to all.

When I first became a Christian, I went to a rather small church. It was in the Boston area and evangelical Christians were in rather short supply. There was Gordon College and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary but they were tucked away in a small suburb and were easily overlooked in the hubbub of this strong hold of liberal thinking.
Read the rest of this entry »