Linkathon!
When Facebook functions as a cemetery…
The dangers of pursuing your passion…
Evangelicals and the great Trump hope…
Excellent article about Perry Noble and alcoholism…
Earning our right to be heard…
Thoughts about Buechner on his 90th birthday…
Black and blue complementarianism…
The mega problem behind the fall of mega church pastors…
How nostalgia fractured the republic…
Why some Christian churches forgo federal funding…
Can we be both patriots and Christians?
The state of the American church…Part 2, Part 3
Organize your life for evangelism…
What does your tipping say about your faith?
Remembering who endorsed “Real Marriage”…
Whose blog posts are you really sharing?
Songs for a hard road…the Psalms.
There’s no such thing as free will…
10 things you should know about the love of God…
The secret things and the revealed things of God…
Thanks to EricL for the link help…support him at top right.
“The ark is open for business”
I wonder if that’s what Noah said just before it started raining? 🙂
Good article on prayer, by the way.
I was scrolling through the names of friends on Facebook recently when I was deciding who to share some content with and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the account for my friend’s dad was still active after he died a little over a year ago. I never actually met him in real life, but did manage to form a bit of a relationship with him through Facebook.
The guy has a legacy that I would be happy to have half of when I’m gone.
I don’t think we have heard the last of Perry Noble.
Anybody want in on a pool for how long it will be before he makes his return to ministry? I say 6 months…
It’ll be longer than that.
They had to have some real dirt on him to take him out…
Haven’t read them all, yet…. but thank you.
Needless to say, the article on the fall of mega pastors and the pressures of what I call ‘church culture’ spoke to me and I forwarded it to my daughter. The culture of “church fame” is awful, to say the least…. yet, there ARE choices involved when a star falls.
The articles on alcoholism also hit close to home, as well. My ex, my mom and her mom and sisters were all slaves of alcohol. Thus, I am alcohol phobic, avoiding it completely. My 4 sons all drink and I sadly observe the signs of addiction forming. Sad. Morals aside, alcohol is not a good choice for the human body and biome.
The Ark. Pardon me, but I despise the glorification of Noah’s Ark. I hate it when church nurseries are decorated with “Noah’s Ark” wallpaper, preschools are named Noah’s Ark, etc….Just because a Bible story has animals and boats doesn’t mean it’s a ‘good story’ for kids… it’s God’s Judgment and the deaths of all but one family of humankind. Horrible. One of my pet peeves…. and just another Church Culture amusement park. Ugh.
The Psalms…. I read several today and they sounded like my prayers for the turmoil of our modern day. Praising God and begging for His mercies and righting of wrongs…
Indeed. Songs for the Hard Road.
The article on genes, DNA and culture spoke to me. I have recently connected with a son that I gave up for adoption 47 years ago. Our similarities are astonishing. Nature vs nurture…. However, none of my 4 sons believe in Jesus (yet)….. I do hope there is some sort of genetic predisposition to Faith, in due time.
Great comments, Paige…
Does the Ark theme park feature dead bloated corpses lying around?
Xenia…that was rich. 🙂
Ha! Exactly Xenia!
The Ark! One of my favorite toys as a kid was an ark and the huge collection of animals that came with it. My dad got them as rewards each time he filled up at a particular gas station chain. He did a lot of driving for work, so I got a lot of plastic animals. I never did get any bloated corpses though… Xenia must have gotten lucky.
Not being a Christian until I was 18, I had no idea of the story behind the toys. They were just fun to play with as a little boy.
Could you imagine some large corporation doing a similar give-away today?
OK, enough rambling down memory lane from me. Back to looking at all the Links that Michael found.
Sharing a link of my own as well. Thanks
News Too Good to be True
http://dswoager.wordpress.com/2016/07/12/news-too-good-to-be-true/
I barely made it through the link regarding alcohol abuse – hit too close to home. My wife has been in counseling and under psychiatric care for years, dealing with the hell she grew up with.
I pray Noble’s wife and daughter get the help they need.
The article on free will leaves me shaking my head – IMO the scienific community spends too much time trying to explain away things that we mere humans have no business trying to figure out. One line stood out to me – “the belief in free will comes naturally to us.” Yes, I think it does. Because Someone put it in us.
EricL – I remember that! We must be around the same age. I think it was Shell that had the promo…back when gas cost .40 cents a gallon? Oh the good ol days:-)
Paige – yes it is a story of Gods judgment on those who rejected Him, but it’s also a story of salvation for those who believed in Him, just like the rest of the Bible.
I don’t particularly subscribe to free will … but I’ve interacted with enough toddlers to believe in free WON’T. 🙂
Hatchet – LOL!! I hear you there, we have three kids, and thankfully there are not all toddlers at the same time….one toddler at a time is plenty, although we know wer’re spoiled that way. We have friends with 2,3, or 4 around the same age. We pray for them…..
Reminds me of a few diet plans I have read about – telling us to have willpower. I have plenty of “will” power, what is needed more for dieting is the “won’t” power….
Would this makes a good disclaimer in the statement of faith of every mega church?
“Thus says the Lord : “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord . He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord , whose trust is the Lord . He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:5-8 ESV
here’s an extra link, the decline of white Christian America (mainline and evangelical)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/the-eclipse-of-white-christian-america/490724/
once again i am in debt to the links here… thank you
China’s Christian future almost escaped my attention – after skimming the first 10 or so paragraphs, it was a joy to read… people discovering and persevering in the Faith feed my soul…
Interesting links first the Noah’s Ark thing, that was a mainstay in my old fellowship about how really really really …….^100k times angry God is with us, even after Jesus died God is still mad at us. Some of us way more than others but He really is angry. Now Jesus dying on the cross and suffering all eternity for all of our sins, or the elect’s sins or whatever was horrible and we killed Jesus and wanted to kill Him They would discuss at length about how God drown families, pregnant women, babies etc and His divine wrath would be poured out on more people in the book of Revelation and three billion plus would be snuffed out only to go to eternal perdition. Personally, I really dont get all that, I mean I do on an “intellectual” level but on a human / “heart” level I dont get it. I remember asking one time, how much blood does God want? And was rebuked for being insensitive to others spiritual walk. As it was told to me a few times, we should find great joy in God’s holy wrath on a rebellious vile lot such as almost all of humanity. I am not God I would be a very lousy deity but I think I would try to find a better way. I consider that a moral failing on my part.
The most important thing is that Ken Ham will make money and that is always good. Just like Mr. Burton so that is why it is good they do what they do. As for Mr. Noble I could have told you that way back in the day, I also think he has another “secret” and the sooner he comes out about that the better but that is just my opinion. I feel really bad for his family and for him. One thing that I said at the other blog, if it was a pew sitter there would have been no mercy whatsoever shown to them and there should not be, we are not worth the time. That sums up what I learned at Church concerning those issues.
The grief article is like a raw nerve and it still hurts, I can say I do not and never will publically show any type of grief for any reason ever but inside it rips me up a bit. But it was good to read.
Happy birthday to Fred Buechner. I can’t recommend “Secrets in the Dark” enough, especially for those whose faith hangs by a thread at times.
Some folks need to go back and read their Bibles – I can’t believe what I have heard several say about Noah’s Ark. Where did you learn your Bible
Noah and the Ark are signs of God’s love and grace for his people. Noah through his 120 yrs preaching the message of God’s salvation – “get on the boat.” The Ark itself is God’s means of grace – the way he saved people. The Ark was not an instrument of judgment, the Ark did not condemn people to death – the Ark was there for life.
What better tool to show people in a physical manner the importance of God’s love and not only what he has used to save people from his judgment – but the fact that he does willingly, lovingly saves people.
Shame on the Ark haters. I think Ken ham did a good work here – no one forced people to give money – no one forces anyone to go visit.
But for people to shame it – I say shame on you.
Thanks for posting these links.
Of particular interest is the article, “The mega problem behind the fall of mega church pastors”. It was well written and thought provoking.
Having much time to reflect on this topic, since attending two churches here in Florida where two pastors have fallen from leadership (BC & TT), I think humility verses pride can also be added to the discussion.
I found this insightful article on the topic. Here is the link:
http://jeremiekubicek.com/humility-vs-pride/
I did reread it MLD many times and only 8 people were on it and the rest of the world died. The ark was a type of Christ and the flood was God’s judgement. Oh and yes there was plenty of shame to go around.
brian, it wasn’t just your comment – some others also. But even your opening statement betrays you. You say “the Ark thing” is about how angry God is with us.
This is not so – the “ark thing” shows how much God loves you / us. Another thing – there may have been only 8 that were saved, but that was 100 % of the people who acepted God’s free offer of salvation. Think of it — 100%. 😉
i’m glad to read MLD’s comments on the ark … we forget that there was a witness for how many years before the rains came (and the fountains of the deep broke up)? Noah didn’t build the thing in his basement
That people do not like the ark today is no different than the hatred of the ark when it was built. Further, for naive liberal Christians who think God would not slaughter the human race in judgment I have this to say. The destruction of the antediluvian humans was exactly what was prophesied in the battle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
What we can easily surmise about the flood is that God did not protect those who threatened the seed. He did however remain faithful to his covenant. God’s righteousness is not his niceness it is his fidelity to his covenant.
Let me step back, the Ark of Noah’s time was God’s means of grace or vehicle of salvation, like the Ark of the covenant was a sign of God’s holiness, power, and salvation much like Christ is the Ark of Salvation. The flood is the sign of God’s judgement / wrath. I will leave it there because I see where your heart is on that and that means alot. Have a nice evening.
The discussion around the Ark being built in Kentucky may not be such a lightning rod if Ken Ham wasn’t one building it. His approach to Young Earth Creation and funding this project has raised eyebrows before: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/11/11/what-ken-ham-isnt-telling-you-about-ark-encounter-funding/
Maybe it would be more helpful to not write things like “David Barton is an idiot”. Given the current level of public discourse (see Trump vs Ginsburg) it would be nice if the christian community presented something better. (MHO)
On the Perry Noble thing… the article leads one to think there was more going on than alcohol. There was an issue with his “posture toward marriage” -that could be a lot of things.
Atheist may not like it – but heck, it’s the same way football stadiums are funded.
I don’t see why the Ark people would insist on a statement of faith. Like most amusement parts, the characters who speak are scripted. So, does it matter if a rank atheists says “and God said…” vs a fundamentalist? – hey, if you go off script, like any other location (“and God, although we know he is only a myth, said…”) then they are fired.
Jim,
I thought it better than writing “David Barton is a a lying sack of manure”, so I should get some credit for trying… 🙂
You’re probably correct,however…
Michael, maybe you need to try to understand and empathize with David Barton. 🙂
(I’ll leave that up to you because I don’t want to do it. 😉 )
Well… there’s that. 🙂
Michael.
Not that this was your intent, but you often make me chuckle with your dry humour…. 😉
Kevin wasn’t bad either….
Owen,
That is the intent…though I also mean what I say. 🙂
Finally got some time to read more links…
I really liked the “10 things you should know about the love of God”……some great reminders in there.
“But at the end of the day a god who is little more than a projection of my own mind can never satisfy me.”
–the examples of God’s love woven throughout Scripture tell us everything we need to know about the nature, qualities, and movements of the love of God. And they are way better than anything we could come up with on our own.
I’m adding a song to this article..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT61ajsfes0
David Barton is a fraud and a charlatan. Enough said.