Speaking of social justice, I’m going to a movie this week-end. It’s “Amazing Grace,” a narrative about William Wilberforce and his eventually successful efforts to outlaw slavery in the British empire.

The recent post and the resulting discussions on the poor Episcopalians brought up the idea of Church organizations being active in social and political issues. Here, I believe, is an example of what the godly individual (not a mega-church) can do to impact a society.

So far, the reviews I’ve read don’t speak very favorably of the movie. But most of the reviewers pretty well demonstrated that they don’t have a clue about Christianity, Christian history, or much of anything else that deals with Christianity.

I’ll let you know how it went next week.

Christian Living | 9 Comments »

Okay ladies and gentlemen, here’s how it’s going to go. This posting is dedicated to the question of Tithing. Any one who wants to comment, even repeat comments they made earlier on a different posting, can comment here.

But here are the rules for the comments:

1. You must read the essay I wrote and have posted under the essays link. Click here to download the essay.

2. In your comment you must either tell us why something in the essay is wrong, misinterpreted, or biased or present something not previously discussed in the essay. Quoting Jesus and saying that this proves that the New Testament says we have to tithes is not doing so. I discuss the New Testament in the essay. Instead, try to tell me why my position on Jesus’ words and the assertion that they were under the Old Testament and the Law is wrong - from Scripture.

3. Provide Scripture in you response. Do not use such phrases as “anyone can see…”, “it’s obvious that…” or other comments and statements that assume there is support from Scripture. Provide the support. And make sure I haven’t already addressed it in the essay. (more…)

Christian Living | 112 Comments »

Warning: This is a long post. It will also be posted as a PDF you can access to the right under “Various Essays”. If you choose to respond, please do a little more than letting us know that the OSAS doctrine is a doctrine of demons. Also, deal with the verses and concepts that are presented. Don’t respond as though none of it was said. Address the arguments. Having said these things, go to it.

Usually, a person who believes they can lose their salvation will, when discussing the issue with a proponent in the Eternal Security camp, set up the following straw man to attack:

So you’re saying if I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and then I go move in with my girlfriend, have sex with a dozen other women, kill the boy friend of one of the women, steal a car and kill three cops while I’m trying to escape, and then get a boy friend while I’m in prison, when I die, I’m still going to heaven? Is that what you are saying?

And of course the answer is: No, that’s not what I’m saying. (more…)

Christian Living | 266 Comments »

For about the last week we have been holding a conversation with Mike, a so-called historian. He has made some pretty large statements about Christianity, Jesus, the Bible and other things. Since GaryV (pictured above) is my Bible enforcer, he has written a posting to address some of the comments and statments put forth by Mike. Mike is now obligated to addresses the rebuttals or find someplace else to perpetrate his ramblings.

Just so you can recall what Mike said, I have included a reprint of the statement here.
(more…)

Christian Living | 90 Comments »

I know this and now you know it. It’s one of the reasons I will never be rich. One of the reasons I do so poorly with the finances God has blessed me with.

I made a mistake a couple of months ago and I am just now rebuking the procrastination demon (he’s a friend of the smoking demon and the drinking demon) to tell you about it.

A while back I told you the site is going to cost me $168 or so to run each month. I was wrong. I misread my bill. When I finally got around to calling my server company (in England by the way), they explained to me that the $168 is the cost of two servers. One is the server on which I host Pulpit Pimps. The other is a server on which I maintain a web site for my copy writing business. The P-P cost had indeed gone up, but it had only increased by about 30 dollars rather than the amount I had originally thought.

The actual cost of the site for P-P is $84 or so. I think I can swing this on my own.

Those of you who have sent money - I would like to give it back. Of course, I will include in that refund the cost of your transmission (one sent funds through Western Union and one through post office money orders). Send me an e-mail and let me know what you want to do. If I don’t hear from you within the week (January 5th), I will send you an e-mail to get your attention and ask again.

My apologies for being so careless in determining the cost. And my thanks to you who have been so faithful (even if it did make me feel lower than pond scum).

Christian Living | 18 Comments »

A couple of days ago one of the readers sent in an interesting link. It’s a spot promoting a person called a Pastorpreneur. That’s right , an entrepreneurial pastor. The owner of the site, Dr. John Jackson, presents pastoring in terms of a business. And of course the main thing in a business is to attract customers and potential customers, thus the use of the term “seeker friendly.” You can’t attract the unsaved if you talk about sin, hell, holiness, and sanctification.

And, according to blokes like Jackson, Rick Warren, the Hilliards and others, we have to do things that will attract the unsaved, whether it’s the child, the gen exer, or the old guy. We have to hold medical exams, sponsor basketball teams, be entertaining and not do anything that will make the unsaved uncomfortable. We have to show them how friendly and non-judgmental we are. We have to be seeker-friendly. In other words we have to be like the Carney man as he stands in front of his game at the carnival trying to interest us to come over and try a couple of tosses of the ring, or a few throws of the ball for just fifty cents or a dollar. You want to make sure you attract those people who are seeking the truth and just haven’t figured out that Jesus is that Truth.

There is only one problem with this approach: The unsaved aren’t seeking the truth. You think I’m lying? Take a look at this:

Romans 3:10-12, talking about the unsaved:

…as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”

This portion of would seem to say that there are no seekers, only the unsaved. Making God attractive to them is pointless because according to Romans 8:6-8 the unsaved don’t want to please God. Here, take a look at it.

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Last time I looked a sinner doesn’t get drawn to God by entertainment. He gets drawn to God by…well, by God. For instance in John 12:32 Jesus says:

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

And in Acts 16:14 it says:

A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

Neither one of these seems to indicate the need to attract people by various techniques, by entertaining them, or by grabbing their interest. In Acts Paul was down by the river, not standing in some comfortable well lit synagogue with synchronized torches and lamp light. In fact, if you take a look at Acts 2:14 and following, your boy Peter held the crowd’s attention by reviewing the Old Testament, applying it to the day, and accusing the listeners of killing the Messiah. Not once did he tell them that they have to decide to have a good day. He didn’t even try to convince them that they were somebody. The results? Over three thousand people came to Christ. And this after being told they had blood on their hands!
Churches that attempt to be “seeker friendly” are actually, and simply, trying to get the unsaved into church and to be involved with church folk. It’s not their job. The elders’ job is to edify the saints, not the unsaved. The saints’ job is to build each other up, not the unsaved. The individual’s job is to go out into the world and first live the Gospel and then to present the Gospel (2 Cor 3:2 and 2 Timothy 4:2 and Romans 1:16).

I suspect a “seeker-friendly” church will cater to the lowest common denominator. The only trouble is, that lowest denominator is the unsaved. Spiritually, we have nothing in common with the unsaved. We want to please God. They don’t. We can please God. They can’t. We can understand the things of God. They can’t. If a church organization is doing its job, the unsaved will have no interest in being there. Those who God is drawing will be there no matter what.

Christian Living | 9 Comments »

I should have an article coming out in a couple of days addressing pastorpreneuralism, the idea of doing whatever it takes to get people into the church building. One of the model churches used by the author of the book is Saddleback in California.

This is the kind of seeker friendly stuff they are doing to attract new members and keep people there.

The link below doesn’t play any more. Here is the same clip on Google:

What next? The little g-strings, twinkly bras and the feather headresses like the…uh…dancers in Las Vegas? I guess it’s a plus that at least they weren’t showing their belly buttons.

Christian Living | 184 Comments »

My, my, my. Where to begin to wade through the errata. This posting is a response to Marlon, the liberal Christian (an oxymoron if ever there was one) currently paying us a visit.

For this post, I will provide Marlon’s comments in blockquote, my comments will be plaintext.

Ya’ll sucking me in … but on Deut 6:4

I doubt we’re sucking you in. My guess is that you’re a plant by someone here (presently eating popcorn) who tried to defend the deconstructionist, liberal theology she learned at your knee. When she found that she could not, you were retained to “show us up”.

Hear, O Israel:The LORD our God is one LORD.”

This can be rendered, Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God. The Lord alone.” (the dreaded NRSV) This rendering and understanding would easily connect with the first commandment, (have no God/idols before GOD, the only God) or any of myriad Biblical statements that there is no God but God. I don’t say this to easily resolve issues of unity or plurality, but to suggest that arguing Trinity or Oneness using the KJV is a non-starter, because both sides are already entrenched with how they interpret these verses.

Wrong. If you’ll move down the line of posts a bit, you will see that no translation was utilized to define these terms. The original language was used. Like pupil like teacher. (more…)

Christian Living | 14 Comments »