A few days ago, a friend from an Assemblies of God-oriented discussion group raised an interesting topic. Since I haven't posted much here for a while, I thought I'd share my thoughts and joyfully invite your comments.
The Good Pagan
Carissa wrote:
« I think, and this is a lay person's humble opinion, that a person can live a good moral life without knowing Christ as Savior. »
Amen, Carissa!
It's a sad myth among us Christians that people can only act "good" by knowing Jesus when, in fact, Christianity is proof of the fact that good behavior is possible while not helpful at gaining eternal salvation. When the rich young ruler came to Jesus, he was not condemned by Jesus for bad behavior. The young man, in fact, kept all the commands since childhood. He said as much and Jesus, knowing
Wherein I opine on the culture war between Christianity and those of homosexual persuasion, and their supporters.
So, breaking news, San Fransisco is a gay-friendly town. Oh, more breaking news: Chrisitanity is anathema to a sinful lifestyle. And it's an easy target for sinners.
So the 24th annual hedonistic fetish event, San Fransisco's Folsom Street Fair (wiki definition), created a poster playing off da Vinci's "Last Supper." Instead of tableware, there are sex toys. Instead of Jesus and his disciples, there was "Sister Roma" and " "half-naked homosexual sadomasochists" (WND). And, of course, there were sponsor logos.
The fair is scheduled for September 30, three days from now.
Predictably, the Christian community at-large has recoiled in disgust and lashed back with angry diatribes and calls for apologies. The poster, itself, has been labeled an "unprovoked attack against Christ and His
The question …
I recently received an email note from a friend. She wrote:
"I am curious if anyone knows of some Christian articles dealing with internet flirting or cyber sex … I just can't seem to find anything that I can relate to or identify with, and I know that there must be some other folks who have encountered the same thing."
Not just a guy thing …
Indeed, there are a number of articles online dealing with this issue. Reviewing them reveals something interesting, if not downright scary. Pornography usage and cybersex traditionally have been viewed as a "male problem," because men are thought to be more easily excited by what they see. But now women are at risk too.
Why so many problems begin with frustrated desire
Every day, headlines assault us with troubling news. These recent titles from a local news website are just a small sampling:
- Two Shotgunned to Death [source]
- Joyriding Gang Member Slain; Crash Injures Family [source]
- Local Soldier Dies in Afghanistan [source]
- School Gets Tough on Commencement Outbursts [source]
- Wife Gets $184 Million in Divorce Ruling [source]
From international to household warfare, roadway to classroom outrage, and mortal to financial loss, such stories reveal our fallen, human propensity to sin.
The cause of these impulsive, sinful outbursts is no secret: When we want what we cannot get, we lash out.
What causes fights and quarrels among
I recently wrote about the relatively unremarked issue of gender dysphoria and believers opting for gender reassignment. I wrote that I had communicated with Assemblies of God leadership about this issue some years ago, and that I believed a position paper is in order — now, not at some later date when it becomes a "real" issue.
And it has begun. I'd say the issue is now real.
While it hasn't surfaced within the Assemblies of God yet, I suspect it will within the next few years. Meanwhile, The Church Report Online released a special report in its May 2007 issue, titled: "Identity Crisis: A Transgender Minister Reappointed to Lead
Recently, I posted my Spider-Man Bible Study / Discussion Guide. Simultaneously, I dropped a few comments on some blogs that referenced a different Spider-Man Bible Study produced by Fuller Theological Seminary's professor Craig Detweiler.
Some GodBloggers have been critical of the whole "movie-based Bible study" enterprise. Not surprising, really: using Hollywood movies to teach Biblical truth is a little like using dance to teach worship, or wine to serve Communion. There may be a place for it, but it's going to generate controversy somewhere.
I've been asked before to justify how I could write a Bible study with a movie as its context. After all, if I'm writing a
My Spider-Man 3 movie-based Bible Study is here, at long last! I have permission from CTI to provide the study here on my site. Over the next few days or weeks, I'll post the previous combo-study I wrote for Spider-Man 1 and Spider-Man 2 as well.
Warning: the following contains spoilers! Stop now and do not read below this paragraph if you hate knowing anything beyond what the trailers reveal.
Spider-Man 3
The greatest battle lies … within
The first two Spider-Man films established Peter Parker and his super-heroic alter-ego as a popular and profitable theatrical draw: Spidey is loveably unstoppable and Peter Parker is the nice boy everybody wants to see "get the girl."
But Spider-Man 3 severs those silky threads of comfortable niceness, dumping Peter Parker and Spider-Man into a dark abyss where evil infects the
I was surprised to read of a recent arrest at Central Bible College when some folks arranged a non-violent protest and an attempt to "dialog" with allegedly "homophobic" school officials over Gay, Lesbian, and Transgendered issues recently:
Central Bible College: Our First Act of Civil Disobedience (via Soulforce)
The blogger,
Brandy Daniels from Wheaton, writes:
We arrived to Springfield, Illinois [knowing] at the beginning that it was likely that Central Bible College would not be as pleasant a stop. We relentlessly pursued conversation with the administrators at the school, who told us again and again that our voice was not welcome, that this was a conversation that the school did not need or want.
Arriving at CBC, the protesters found the school ready, with police and security from Evangel, CBC, and the General Concil all around (all hands on deck, apparently). After loitering on the sidewalks just off
I have been silent on the outing of Ted Haggard, not because I have nothing to say, but I needed to know more of the story before writing anything. And I needed time for my heart to break.
Now that most of the relevant data are in, I will do my usual thorough job of reviewing most of what has been written and produced on the matter so I can serve up a concise lengthy treatise.
Stay tuned.
[tags]BlogRodent, ted-haggard, new-life-church, homosexuality, drugs, methamphetamine, charismatic, pentecostal, national-association-of-evangelicals, nae, colorado-springs, colorado, sexual-sin, sin, moral-failure[/tags]
This is a review of The Apostle that I dashed off back in 1998, about half a year after that film was released. I wrote it for a discussion list that is now defunct. I thought, in light of the other recent movie I reviewed (Jesus Camp, it would be interesting to resurrect this from the ol' mail archives.
Since I wrote it eight years ago, it's a little rough around the edges. But I'm posting it with minimal editorial changes--mainly for the sake of time.
Enjoy ... and if you get a chance to rent this flick, I think you'll enjoy it, with the few caveats I mention below.
After all the debate about Robert Duvall's move, The Apostle, I finally got a chance to see it in one of the cheap second-run theaters locally.
These are a few of the things I've recently found interesting, but don't have the time to properly blog on. I don't necessarily like or agree with the links here, I just think they're interesting. And just in case you do, too, enjoy.
(You can view past Del.icio.us links here or subscribe to my Del.icio.us feed here. 
)
Okay, this is just irresponsible.
ChristiaNet, billing itself as "the world's most visited Christian website" recently offered a web-based survey asking visitors to answer "eleven questions about their personal sexual conduct." A press release from ChistiaNet trumpeted the results.
After receiving 1,000 results, ChristaNet asked Second Glance Ministries to help evaluate the responses:
"The poll results indicate that 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography."
Further:
- 60% of the women have significant struggles with lust
- 40% of the women committed sexual sin in the past year
- 20% of church-going women struggle with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis
This is nuts. These survey results are not scientific data. I don't believe for a second that one of every two Christian men are addicted to porn, and I certainly don't buy the assertion that one of every
These are a few of the things I've recently found interesting, but don't have the time to properly blog on. I don't necessarily like or agree with the links here, I just think they're interesting. And just in case you do, too, enjoy.
(You can view past Del.icio.us links here or subscribe to my Del.icio.us feed here. )
Over on my post, “Charismatic Heresy,” inspired by the egregious charismatic excess highlighted by Charisma editor J. Lee Grady, reader Lynn asked some questions that deserve more attention than a comment reply merits.
Lynn writes:
I go to an A/G church, but have very Reformed views. It has been a struggle for years.
Here’s one question I have: Why, if Charismatic/Pentecostals have the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” do they tend to have MORE sin/problems in life than other more mainline denominations? It seems to be a doctrine that this second blessing is supposed to give power to live a godly life. I just don’t see it! My Presbyterian and Baptist friends seem to have a better handle on living the Christian life.
What about “prayer language”? Is this phenomena really in the Bible? I see the gift of tongues, but not a prayer language solely for the individual? If it is really supposed to build up the believer, why does it produce such flakiness?
Perhaps you’ve heard of Yahawa Wahab recently? Mr. Wahab lives in Malaysia, and he’s looking forward to his day in court: He owes $218 trillion dollars. If Mr. Wahab paid off his debt by one dollar every second of every 24-hour day, he would need 68,770.28 years to pay down his bill--or 1,058 lifetimes with 65 years of earning potential ("How Big is a Trillion?").
