“The average Christian is so cold and so contented with His wretched condition that there is no vacuum of desire into which the blessed Spirit can rush in satisfying fullness.”
Month: February 2005
You call that prayer in school?
Not meaning to offend anybody, but I’m not looking forward to the return of required prayer in school. For many young people, who don’t know God and don’t want to, being forced to pray to God is like being forced to kiss a maiden aunt. Like kissing, prayer is more satisfying when done willingly.
I acknowledge that a return to common moral values is necessary if America is to survive. But Continue reading “You call that prayer in school?”
Don’t be contented.
“Complacency is the deadly enemy of spiritual progress. The contented soul is the stagnant soul.”
Beyond congregationalism
The Christian leaders I’ve associated with have always said they want to be a New Testament church. But usually, they mean they want to be a New Testament congregation. Paul, however, clearly wrote about authority and involvement in multiple congregations. (Of course, maybe you believe that God put things in the Bible that don’t apply to us today). Continue reading “Beyond congregationalism”
Weight Watchers Sudan Ltd.
In America, as many as 80% of fourth-grade girls are on a diet, even though only one quarter of them are overweight. In other countries, many people would love to get their hands on some good high-calorie food. That was the inspiration for this Lose Weight Fast – Ask Me How poster. Of course, World Vision is not responsible for this attempt at humor, even though I put their phone number on the poster. Hmm, I wonder how much it would cost to open a Weight Watchers franchise in Sudan….
Trembling in church
“They will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy Law.”
— Charles Spurgeon
Christian Deconstructionism
The deconstructionist philosophy says you can’t know what’s true because everybody who talks to you about truth is biased. Well, that’s equally true of deconstructionists. They are also biased. Hence we can’t trust them either. Thank you for your time.
However, I know someone whom you can trust. Who? That’s for me to know and you to find out. Except that he says, “The heart is deceitfully wicked, who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). Hmm, he must be a deconstructionist, you think?
Ready to be pardoned?
“One cannot intelligently and heartily ask or accept a pardon until he sees and feels the fact and justice of his condemnation. . . ”
–Charles Finney
Rolling somewhere
After listening to President Bush’s State of the Union address last night, my Methodist-Buddhist uncle said, “Jesus Christ would have rolled over in his grave if he could have heard that.”
Think about that. Think all about that.
Parousial Sanctification
Like practical universalism and proportional atonement, parousial sanctification is another doctrine I invented one night when I had nothing else to do. Well, actually I didn’t invent it. A lot of Christians seem to already be living in expectation of it. However, I have not yet found any Scriptural evidence for this doctrine. Parousial sanctification is the inward transformation of the soul that evidently occurs at the second coming of Jesus Christ (Gk. parousia), presumably during the Rapture.
Continue reading “Parousial Sanctification”