Here’s a very interesting video that talks about some of the theological differences between Christianity and Judaism that have arisen over the last 2,000 years. Judaism, over that time, has changed considerably since the destruction of the temple in 70AD:
Paul Washer Quotes
Paul Washer is easily one of my favorite preachers of today. I love how he cuts through all the junk and gets right to the message. Battle 4 Truth has a good collection of some of his quotes. A couple of my favorites:
“Here stands God on the day of creation. He looks at stars and He says “all you stars move yourself to this place and start in this order and move in a circle and move exactly as I tell you, until I give you another word. Planets-pick yourself up and whirl, make this formation at my command, until I give you another word. He looks at mountains and says “be lifted up” and they obey him. He tells valleys “be cast down” and they obey him. He looks at the sea and says “you will come this far”, and the sea obeys. Then, he looks at you and says “come” and you go “No! Does that bother anyone?”
“People tell me judge not lest ye be judged. I always tell them, twist not scripture lest ye be like satan.”
Man Spends 30 Years Creating a Model of Herod’s Temple
A retired farmer in England has spent 30 years building a model of Herod’s Temple, complete with thousands of miniature people.
A Boomer in the Pew
A Boomer in the Pew is celebrating his one-year anniversary. To do so, he’s employing an interesting turn on a tradition. Instead of all his readers sending him a gift, he’s offering a gift to his readers:
One of you, my loyal “Boomer in the Pew” readers, is going to win this beautiful premium calfskin leather version of the new ESV Study Bible!
Boomer has some great posts, and explains why he started his blog a year ago:
My life has been primarily centered around building and selling a successful business. Now I find myself in my early 50’s, semi-retired and asking myself lots of questions.
The first thing that I noticed, after selling my business, was that along with it went my “significance”. I was shocked to find out how much of my self-worth was tied up in my ability to run a successful business. Frankly, I was really more embarrassed. I am certain that my Heavenly Father isn’t going to say “well done” for running a successful business.
In the business world I was able to rub shoulders with very successful people from all over the country. I quickly learned that after the seminar was over, the real talking started around the dinner table. I gleaned that many successful business owners have been in such a pursuit of riches that they haven’t taken the time to see the HUGE hole that was in their hearts. Behind them was left a trail of broken marriages, alcoholism, and great despair.
I also learned that my Christian diet consisted of oatmeal. It is time for me to start eating “meat” so that I can have an impact in these peoples lives. This is the desire of my heart.
Denver Archbishop Calls for Catholics to Defend their Faith
Speaking in Toronto, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput gave a speech that any Christian, not just Catholics, ought to hear:
“I think modern life, including life in the Church, suffers from a phony unwillingness to offend that poses as prudence and good manners, but too often turns out to be cowardice. Human beings owe each other respect and appropriate courtesy. But we also owe each other the truth — which means candor.”
Looking ahead to the coming months and years, Chaput offered four “simple things” to remember.
“First,” he said, “all political leaders draw their authority from God. We owe no leader any submission or cooperation in the pursuit of grave evil.”
“In fact, we have the duty to change bad laws and resist grave evil in our public life, both by our words and our non-violent actions. The truest respect we can show to civil authority is the witness of our Catholic faith and our moral convictions, without excuses or apologies.”
“Americans, including many Catholics, elected a gifted man to fix an economic crisis. That’s the mandate. They gave nobody a mandate to retool American culture on the issues of marriage and the family, sexuality, bioethics, religion in public life and abortion. That retooling could easily happen, and it clearly will happen — but only if Catholics and other religious believers allow it.”
The third point to focus on when the beliefs of Catholics are challenged is that “it doesn’t matter what we claim to believe if we’re unwilling to act on our beliefs,” Chaput counseled.
Continue reading Denver Archbishop Calls for Catholics to Defend their Faith
Who is the Greater Prophet, Jesus or Muhammed
Seeing Clearly puts up a great list of the teachings about Jesus in the Qur’an:
- Jesus was born of a virgin (Surah 3:45-50)
- Jesus is sinless (Surah 6:85)
- Jesus is the Messiah (Surah 3:45)
- Jesus performed miracles (Surah 3:49)
- One of these miracles is especially interesting (although only attested elsewhere in the Gospel of Thomas). Surah 3:49 and 5:110 teach that Jesus created a bird out of clay while He was upon this earth.
- Jesus ascended into heaven in bodily form (Surah 3:55)
- Jesus spoke at his birth (Surah 19:27-35)
- Jesus raised the dead (Surah 3:49)
Question for Muslims: since none of the above is true of Muhammed, how can he be called the greatest prophet?
[Whole list taken from Norman Geisler, “Jesus and Muhammed in the Qur’an: A Comparison and Contrast,” SBJT 8:1 (2004), 50-58.]
How to Witness by Paul Washer
In Two Keys at the Same Time
In Two Keys at the Same Time from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.
What do you do when things don’t go as planned?
While God commends the development of skill (Prov. 22:29), and laziness is no excuse for lack of preparation, there are times that even deliberate practice doesn’t keep us from messing up. But God’s strength is perfected in our weakness. When things don’t go as planned, people are able to see more clearly our humanity, and hopefully our humility.
Of course, some times we can cover up mistakes without anyone noticing or being distracted. If you can do that, great. But there are other times (like playing in two keys) when the best choice is simply to stop what you’re doing and start over. Amazingly enough, God can continue working, even through our mistakes.
“Your Love Never Fails” – Jesus Culture
Vissarion the Messiah of Siberia
An ex-traffic cop is billing himself as the second coming of Christ. He’s not the first to start a cult in Russia’s fertile ground. It’s always been hard for me to understand these groups, and the devotion to their cult leaders:
The Siberian messiah who calls himself Vissarion, meaning “He who gives new life,” is head of an isolated religious commune deep in the birch forests of Russia. Members of the Church of the Last Testament follow the laws of the self-proclaimed reincarnation of Jesus Christ, maintaining a largely vegan diet and skipping modern medicine to maintain harmony with nature. Five times a day, believers turn in prayer toward the mountaintop where Vissarion lives. The group’s calendar even dates from the day of their messiah’s birth.
Many of Vissarion’s followers are educated people from different European countries. Some of them used to work as doctors, teachers and engineers. One was even the former Belorussian deputy railway minister. “When I saw him the first time my soul recognized him. I could not cope with my emotions and my soul cried, ‘It’s him, it’s him. He is on earth!”‘ Galina told me. “It was as if a flood came down from the sky and my body was shivering nonstop!” Tatyana added.
Read the rest of the article to see the extremely uninspiring interview with Vissarion.