What do you call a battle against an enemy that has
no boundaries, no uniformed armies, no capitol city, and no
discernable front lines?
We call it "The Global War on Terror."
The problem with that name is that it tries to avoid the
obvious. Let's face it, "terror" is a technique, not an enemy.
It is the same as calling World War II "The Global War On
Kamikazes".
So why this clumsy labeling?
The battle we face isn't with a specific country, but rather
with an ideology. In fact, it is with a religious ideology
inseparable from Islam.
I can say without fear of contradiction that the 9-11 hijackers
were not a model of diversity. No Baptists, no Catholics, not a
single Sikh or even a Scientologist.
The events of 9-11 were entirely religiously motivated. It was
the expression of hearts and minds devoted to what was perceived
as a holy cause.
And if the root of this conflict is spiritual, so is its
resolution.
What would have happened if someone had reached Mohammed Atta
with the love of Jesus Christ?
But isn't that impossible? Aren't Moslems virtually immune to
the message of the Gospel?
It all depends on how it is presented.
Consider a fascinating approach to sharing the truth of Jesus
that uses the Koran itself to open a door to the hearts of
Moslems.
Evangelizing A Muslim by Raheem Saleeb And Halick Muzoud
Using the Quran, the Bible and their own prayers (Surah ul
Fatihah)
The following technique can be used with any Muslim once they
are open to talking about their faith. We have used it with
Muslims whom we have befriended through friendship evangelism
(going to dinner together, went fishing with the husband, etc.,
etc.) We also use this technique in our medical outreaches after
the patient has been seen and loved by our medial staff. It
works as long as the person is open to talking about their
faith.
“Have you read your Quran lately?”
The usual response is no, most Muslims are “cultural Muslims”
and don’t read the Quran.
“I have been reading mine and in chapter (surah) 3 verse 49 it
says that Isa Almassih (Jesus the Messiah) healed the sick, gave
sight to the blind and raised people from the dead!!!”
“In chapter (surah) 5 verse 48 it says that the Quran was sent
to confirm the scriptures before it and that Allah guards it
safely, so it couldn’t have been changed or altered.”
Side Bar: (The Muslims memorize the first 7 verses of the Quran
and are suppose to use the verses in a prayer they are supposed
to pray 5 times a day).
“The prayer you pray five times a day has a verse that says
“Show me the straight path of the righteous”. In the New
Testament, which is guarded from being corrupted, Isa says “I am
the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to God except
by me.” So, what you pray for everyday, the straight path, Isa
says he is.”
“In the Quran Surah 3:55 it says that God ended Isa’s life on
earth and raised him to paradise (heaven). Therefore he knows
the way to heaven and tells us how to get there in his Gospels
or Ingil. In Mark 2:10 it says that Isa has the authority to
forgive sin and if you ask him to forgive your sin, you will be
given the straight path to paradise when you die.”
“Do you want to stand before Allah on judgment day with your
sins unforgiven?”
NO!
Would like to ask Isa right now to forgive you your sins?
There is no doubt that our armed forces are performing an
essential service to us all by engaging the majority of Islamic
terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. But there is also a
spiritual battle for hearts and minds that we can engage in as
we share God's truth and love with those who are in our own
communities.
For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a
servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I
became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are
under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who
are under the law; to those who are without law, as
without law (not being without law toward God, but under law
toward Christ]), that I might win those who are
without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the
weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might
by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake,
that I may be partaker of it with you. (I Corinthians
9:19-23)
Scott's Blog - 1/30/08
Who Are the Prophets of Doom?
Every now and then, when people hear that I believe
that Jesus could return in this generation, I get a fairly
predictable response.
"Oh! So you are one of those prophets of doom, eh? So when do
you think the world is going to end?"
In a way I can't really blame the non believer for rolling an
eye or even smirking at anything that relates to Biblical
prophecy. We have seen more than one sensationalist try to
either pack the pews or line their wallets with a message of
impending judgment, usually complete with a countdown date for
the faithful.
Fear sells.
But the fascinating thing I have observed lately is that you
don't have to have a pompadour hairdo, a cable television show,
or a day glow velvet portrait of a saint behind you to get into
the gloom and doom prediction business.
Consider this story of a cosmic near miss that has been making
the rounds lately.
An asteroid between 150-160 meters in diameter will pass
within 540,000 kilometers (334,000 miles) of Earth on
January 29 at 08:33 UT (3:33 EST). Hopefully this news won’t
cause any alarmist cries of doom, as the asteroid has no
chance of hitting Earth (yeah, right, the alarmists are
already out in full force). But there is one reason to get
excited about this close approach by an asteroid: it will be
close enough to likely be visible to amateur astronomers.
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/01/23/near-earth-asteroid-to-make-close-approach-jan-29/
By the time you read this, TU24 will have whizzed on by
us at a distance roughly one and a half times as far away as
the moon. But this relative "near miss" has already
generated some controversial predictions.
Lots of could be's and what if's in this presentation to
be sure, but the message is clear - "How fragile we are".
And when we combine this with a naturalistic world view
that tells us all we are is a cosmic accident to begin with,
it only makes sense to believe it is equally possible that
another cosmic accident can take us out.
But have a nice day, anyway.
I guess this is what separates the message that Jesus
could come at any time from these gloomy scenarios.
In a real way, the return of Jesus won't spell the end of
the world, but a brand new beginning under new management.
The Bible tells us that when the Lord returns He will
come to right this world gone wrong. And the results will be
spectacular.
The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad
for them,
And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;
It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,
Even with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the LORD,
The excellency of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands,
And make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
“ Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert.
The parched ground shall become a pool,
And the thirsty land springs of water;
In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, There shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
A highway shall be there, and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
But it shall be for others.
Whoever walks the road, although a fool,
Shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there,
Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it;
It shall not be found there.
But the redeemed shall walk there,
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah
35:1-10)
The Bible tells us that we
are far more than some helpless sitting ducks in a cosmic
shooting gallery. God watches over us. He will return and
transform this fast wearing out world into something
glorious. For those who know Him, joy and gladness await on
a level we cannot comprehend.
Jesus' return will cause all this to happen.
And that is anything but gloom and doom!
Scott's Blog - 1/29/08
Poking Holes In A Peace Plan
If you are a regular reader of this feature you
know that we pointed out both the spiritual and practical fatal
flaws of the United States sponsored "Road Map To Peace"
initiative.
In essence this proposal demands both territorial and security
concessions from Israel in exchange for high sounding but
ultimately empty promises of good behavior from the
Palestinians.
Biblically, we have seen that carving up the land God claims as
His own is a non starter. In fact, passages like Joel 3:1-2
indicate that this policy will only grease the skids on the
world wide slide toward Armaggedon.
But even from a purely pragmatic and secular point of view we
have seen there is a major problem in these negotiations. Who
does Israel negotiate with?
Currently seated at the other side of the table is Mahmoud Abbas,
the heir to Yasser Arafat's Fatah political party.
Although our State Department continues to declare that Abbas is
a "moderate" that we can deal with, most Palestinians have
thrown their support behind the terrorist group Hamas.
For those of you keeping score at home, Hamas has thoroughly
routed the forces of Fatah, evicting them from Gaza. Abbas
escaped to the West Bank territories by the skin of his teeth.
His safety is only made possible because he knows the Israeli
Defense Forces will not allow Hamas to come after him there.
The long and the short of it is this. Israel can sign a peace
treaty with Abbas, but since 80% of the Palestinians support
Hamas, it won't be worth the paper it is printed on.
In fact, it now appears that we are going to get a chance to see
just how utterly powerless Abbas and Fatah are in any practical
sense.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -
Israel will not stand in the way of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas taking
control of Gaza's breached border with Egypt as part of a deal to sideline Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave,
officials said on Tuesday.
Reuters Photo: A Palestinian waves a flag near a
destroyed section of the border wall between the
Gaza Strip and Egypt...
But it is unclear how Abbas, the Fatah leader, would be able to assert
control over the crossing with Egypt given opposition from
Hamas, which seized the coastal territory in June and blasted
open the Egyptian border wall last week in defiance of an
Israeli-led blockade.
Tensions along Gaza's frontier with Egypt flared anew on
Tuesday when Egyptian forces tried to prevent Palestinian
vehicles from driving into Egypt.
Hamas gunmen intervened, firing into the air
to clear the way for cars to pass. They threatened to blast new
holes in the border if Egyptian forces refused to back down.
Gaza's border crossings have emerged as the main
battleground in the factional power struggle between Hamas and
Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, home to 2.5
million Palestinians, since Gaza's takeover in June.
Abbas has proposed taking over all of Gaza's crossings
with Egypt and Israel, seeking strategic footholds in the
Hamas-controlled enclave, home to 1.5 million. Hamas sees the
effort as part of a campaign to limit its power, won in
elections in January 2006.
By blasting open the Rafah border to let hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians pour into Egypt to stock up on
supplies, Hamas showed its command on the ground and Israeli
officials are skeptical of Abbas's ability to take charge.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080129/ts_nm/palestinians_israel_crossing_dc
Question: If the Egyptian military turned tail and ran when
Hamas' goons fired guns in the air, what do you suppose will
happen when the previously humiliated forces of Fatah show up
and try to assert their authority?
Who will back this move by Fatah? The EU? The UN? Egypt? The
United States?
The obvious answer is - None of the above.
What will prevent the forces of Hamas from finishing off the
forces of Fatah and consolidating their power beyond the borders
of Gaza?
It is clear that this attempt to restore relevancy by Abbas
is destined for disaster.
It is also painfully clear that the more the nations of this
world (including the U.S.) try to support those whose sworn
purpose is to exterminate Israel, the greater the tensions in
the region will become. As the prophecy in Joel indicates, this
course of action will not bring peace, but ultimately war on a
scale this world has never seen before.
“For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land. (Joel 3:1-2)
Scott's Blog - 1/28/08
Feeling Free To Share?
Maybe you know the feeling. Your pulse rate spikes.
Sweat breaks out on your forehead. A level five case of cotton
mouth strikes with a vengeance.
Your once steel trap like mind is now rusted shut.
What just happened?
A heart attack? Stroke? Dengue fever? A case of the vapors?
Or perhaps this is how you feel when a non believer asks you a
question about your faith.
Surveys show that even among self described "evangelical"
Christians, fewer than 20 % of all believers have ever shared
their faith with a non Christian.
Why?
If you've ever experienced the above, you know the answer.
Some will say, "Oh, I witness by my actions. Sooner or later
some Sherlock Holmes will put the pieces together and figure out
that I'm nice and ethical because I'm a Christian."
Others will say, "I don't want to be one of those
people - turning others off by wearing my faith on my sleeve and
stuffing tracts in the ears of the unwilling."
But the honest will say, "I'm just not sure that what I believe
will stand up anywhere else but in the friendly confines of the
church."
All it takes is one encounter with a smug skeptical professor in
a tweed jacket and elbow patches -
Or an obscenity laced tirade from a wild eyed disciple of
Richard Dawkins -
Or even a stern admonishment from Mom never to ruin a family
dinner by bringing up religion again -
And we are done.
But what if you were convinced that Jesus wasn't just "your
thing"? That the message of the Bible was really true, and could
stand up quite well in the market place of ideas? That Jesus
really did live and die and rise from the dead, not in a stained
glass image in a dusty cathedral, but in history?
Wouldn't that give you the boldness to share?
If you want to get a start on having a solid faith that will not
only sustain you in the hard times, but will actually give you
the confidence to share God's truth outside the church, check
out our video blog of the week on the SRL home page.
It might be one of the most liberating 18 minutes you will ever
spend on the web.
The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
You shall keep them, O LORD,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
(Psalm 12:6-7)
Scott's Blog - 1/24/08
The Battle For Hearts, Minds and Lives
When people ask me what I do for a living, I will
often respond "My job is to make God's Word understandable and
applicable in people's lives."
Believe me, as soon as people find out that I'm a pastor, with a
Bible Q and A format radio program no less, well, it can be open
season for some really interesting conversations. Even when I'm
off the air.
One of the questions I am often asked by non Christians is "What
is your stand on abortion?"
I've learned to respond in this way.
"In my opinion there is only one question we must answer to
settle this issue in a truly moral way - When does life begin?
Your answer to that question will pretty much determine where
you stand on the issue."
I will often hear in response, "Well nobody really knows the
answer to that."
To which I will reply, "Well, no.
Actually there is an answer to that question.
At the moment of conception, we don't have an inanimate object -
we have a "being". The fertilized egg is alive and there is no
dispute of this in science.
In fact, when we do a genetic examination of that "being" we
discover that it possesses 46 chromosomes that contain all the
traits of a human.
At the moment of conception we have a "being" that is human - it
is a "human being".
In fact, the only difference between you, me and that fertilized
egg is time and nurture.
Period.
So the question isn't when does life begin, but rather when did
your life begin? And aren't you glad your mother saw you as more
than just a clump of cells?"
This message appears to be gaining traction in our culture. James Taranto in his Wall Street Journal "Best of the Web"
column sites two articles that marked the 35th anniversary of
the controversial Roe Vs. Wade decision.
Today is the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the decision
in which seven men imposed their views on abortion on the entire
country. This ruling, which had no basis in the text of the
Constitution and only a tenuous connection to then-existing
precedents, was supposed to settle the matter once and for all.
Instead, it turned the court into a de facto review board for
state abortion policies and made abortion--and by extension the
court itself--into the most divisive issue in presidential
politics.
Whoops!
Both the Washington Post and the
Los Angeles Times have articles noting, with some surprise,
that today's antiabortion movement includes lots of young
people. The Post piece includes this delightful bit of Fox
Butterfieldesque puzzlement:
Despite the steady drop in abortions across the United
States in the three decades since the Supreme Court
legalized the procedure in 1973 in the case of Roe v. Wade,
a new generation of activists is taking up the cause with
conviction and sophistication. There are Students for Life
chapters on more than 400 college campuses nationwide.
What is the logic of that "despite"? Abortion tends not to
be carried down through the generations: If your mother had an
abortion when she was pregnant with you, the likelihood of your
ever having an abortion is close to zero. The L.A. Times
describes a meeting of an antiabortion group called Generation
Life, which sheds some further light on the subject:
"I feel like we're all survivors of abortion," Claire
said.
She has five sisters and a brother; most of her classmates,
she said, come from much smaller families. The way Claire
sees it, they're missing out on much joy--and she blames
abortion.
"I look at my friends," she said, "and I wonder, 'Where are
your siblings?' "
So what is the best way to mark the progress being made on
the issue of abortion?
1. Call your mother and thank her for carrying you to term.
2. Make a donation to a crisis pregnancy center that supports
women who are faced with this life or death decision in Biblical
ways. http://choices-az.org/
3. The next time someone says "No one knows when life
begins", be prepared to lovingly share the facts of the issue.
4. If you know someone who is facing a crisis pregnancy, get
them in touch with a local Crisis Pregnancy Center. By the time
they have had a sonogram their point of view on this critical
issue will change radically.
But most importantly, remember how God looks at your life, my
life, and pre-born life.
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully
made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of
the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them. (Psalm
139:13-16)
(A Pre-born child at 18 weeks)
Scott's Blog - 1/23/08
I'll Be Back?
If you needed any convincing that truth really is stranger
than fiction, just keep an eye on the incredible developments in
the realm of computer technology.
Oh, we have all been exposed to science fiction films that play
on the theme that man might one day build machines that become
so advanced they not only won't need people to run them, but
eventually won't take kindly to taking orders from human beings.
But that's just science fiction, right?
Maybe not.
Israel Eyes Thinking Machines to
Fight 'Doomsday' Missile Strikes
Israel has been hit in recent years by thousands and
thousands of rockets, mortar shells, and
missiles. And that could be just a preview
of the onslaught Iran may one day unleash. So
Israeli military leaders have begun early
planning for a new, robotic defense system,
armed with enough artificial intelligence that
it "could take over completely" from
flesh-and-blood operators. "It will be
designed for... autonomous operations,' Brig.
Gen. Daniel Milo, commander of Israel's air
defense forces, tells
Defense News' Barbara Opall-Rome. And
in the event of a "doomsday" strike, Opall-Rome
notes, the system could handle "attacks that
exceed physiological limits of human command."
Israel already uses a blend of Arrow and Patriot interceptors to
handle incoming rockets and missiles. This
new command-and-control program would be
"superimposed over all those defenses" --
and over new ones to come.
Air defense systems today often take a great deal of the
work away from the troops who supposedly run them. The
machines automatically slew to their targets, lock on... and
then await instructions from flesh-and-blood.
At least they do, most of the time. Back in
October, however, some sort of glitch allowed a South African
air defense cannon to spin out of control -- killing 9, and wounding 14.
In "extreme scenarios, where the number of incoming
weapons could overwhelm today’s [air defense] systems and their
human operators, [Israel's] envisioned super system could take
over completely," Opall-Rome writes.
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/israel-thinking.html
The prophetic significance of "operator optional" thinking
machines is two fold.
Daniel tells us that an incredible burst of intelligence
acquisition would characterize the last days.
“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until
the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge
shall increase.”(Daniel 12:4)
Even more significantly, the Bible tells us that one of the
key events in the career of the Antichrist will involve an
example of artificial intelligence run amok.
And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs
which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling
those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who
was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power
to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the
beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship
the image of the beast to be killed. (Revelation 13:14-15)
How will the Antichrist pull off this animation of an image?
No doubt it will be supernatural in its fulfillment. But how
interesting that we are being conditioned to accept and even
approve of the idea of machines supplanting the role of men in
key issues like national defense.
Is it possible that faith in the infallibility of artificial
intelligence may set the stage for the fulfillment of prophecy?
Scott's Blog - 1/22/08
Come On..Like You Haven't Done It
A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:10-11)
You know how it works.
You went to bed a little bit late on Saturday.
For some reason the morning coffee just isn't doing it's normal
job.
The pastor is going a bit longer than usual.
And then it hits you.
A little voice in the back of your mind, "If you just close your
eyes for one second, you will feel sooooo much better."
Never give heed to that voice.
Why?
BILL HAS A 'DREAM'
EX PREZ NODS OFF DURING MLK AWARD PRESENTATION
January 21, 2008 --
Bill Clinton showed yesterday why he made it into the
book "The Art of Napping."
During an appearance at the Convent Avenue Baptist Church
in Harlem, the former president was caught nodding off.
Clinton was there during a service to honor Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., while his wife was nearby at Abyssinian Baptist
Church, where she was endorsed by its minister, Rev. Calvin
Butts.
Clinton has had napping episodes before. Among others, he
nodded off at a Mets game and at Ronald Reagan's funeral.
When he was president, he told Dan Rather, "If I can take
a nap, even 15 or 20 minutes in the middle of the day, it is
really invigorating to me. On the days when I'm a little short
of sleep, I try to work it out so that I can sneak off and just
lie down for 15 minutes, a half an hour, and it really makes all
the difference in the world."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01212008/news/regionalnews/bill_has_a_dream_474243.htm
Let's face it, we've all been there.
As a pastor can I offer a bit of sage advice? If you feel
like you are a quart low going in to a service:
1. Pray -
Ask the Lord to wake you up. Sometimes the old principle
"You have not because you ask not" really does apply.
2. Position Yourself -
If you feel so tired that "bed-itating" may become an issue,
sit toward the back where you can get up, walk out in the lobby
and collect yourself if need be. Far better to do that than to
fall over into the aisle when you hit dream land.
3. Prepare Your Heart -
Remember why you are there. God wants to meet with you. He
has special things He wants to share with you. If you are in a
place where you aren't spiritually edified, maybe you need to
consider finding a fellowship that can reignite your spiritual
fire.
4. Put on Humility -
What happens to others can and probably will happen to us.
How would you want to be treated if the shoe, or the sleeping
cap was on the other foot? "Let the One who thinks he stands
take heed lest he fall" (I Corinthians 10:12). That includes
"falling asleep".
Our spiritual slumbers might not make it onto the cover of
the NY Post, but they are seen in heaven. Let's make sure we
understand why we are in church and Who we are there to meet.
Otherwise we might as well spend the morning at "Bedside
Baptist" with "Pastor Pillow" and "Deacon Sheets"!
Scott's Blog - 1/21/08
With Friends Like These?
One of the simplest, yet most profound definitions of what
it means to be a genuine Christian comes from no less a source
than Jesus Himself.
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My
love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My
love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in
His love.
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in
you, and that your joy may be full. This is My
commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life
for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command
you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not
know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends,
for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to
you. (John 15:9-15)
Jesus tells us that a genuine Christian isn't someone who
attends a church, or gives intellectual assent to certain
creeds. A genuine Christian is one who has entered into a
personal relationship, a friendship with Jesus.
It is that definition of genuine Christianity that caused me to
nearly do a spit take when I read of the controversy surrounding
the debut of a play in Sydney, Australia this weekend.
Gay Jesus play blasted by bishop
A PLAY that depicts Jesus as a gay man who is seduced by
Judas and conducts a gay marriage for two apostles has been
condemned by religious leaders as it prepares to open in Sydney.
The Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth,
questioned the integrity of Corpus Christi and expressed his
outrage at the "unhistorical and untrue" depiction of the son of
God and some of his disciples as homosexual.
"It is deliberately, not innocently, offensive and they're
obviously having a laugh about it," he said.
"It's historical nonsense and I wouldn't want to go and
see it. Life's too short."
Australian Family Association spokeswoman Angela Conway
said the play's creators had committed "a big enough crime" by
neglecting to treat Christianity and Christian believers with
more sensitivity.
"The ideas are offensive and really border on blasphemous.
It's just completely fanciful and self-obsessive," she said.
The funny thing about so called "works of art" like this
concerning Jesus is that it has just about been done to death.
After some 10 years of seeing Jesus' character attacked and
distorted in everything from performance art, heavy metal music,
and stilted cinematic pot boilers like "The DaVinci Code",
productions like "Corpus Christi" barely register a yawn.
But what I found particularly interesting about the dust up
in Sydney was the professed motivation of director Leigh Rowley
in putting on the play.
Rowney, a Christian, denied the play mocked Christ but
said it would upset some Christians.
"I think it humanises Him in a way Christians might find
difficult because we like to believe God and the son of God are
ultimately divine and above all of us.
Rowley indicates that putting on a play that distorts the
facts of Jesus' life is a "Christian" thing to do.
But is distortion a sign of respect?
I wonder how Rowley would feel about someone putting on a
play that portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King as a secret member of
the Ku Klux Klan?
Certainly such a play would give us a different take on
racism, but at what cost?
When we take the character of a real person and reinvent it
to suit our own world view or personal or political views,
aren't we falling short of telling the truth?
That isn't art. It is slander.
And if a person cares so little about the character of
another that they are willing to lie about them simply to make
an artistic point, he can hardly call himself his friend.
It is always a shock when we see people who give lip service
to being a Christian promoting a very different message with
their lives. But it's not a new phenomenon.
To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled
and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and
conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works
they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and
disqualified for every good work. (Titus 1:15-16)
The best response to outrages like these is to learn a lesson
from them. Instead of organizing boycotts, let's make sure that
our lives illustrate the fact that we love Jesus. And when we
get the chance to tell others about Him, let's make sure that
the portrait of Christ we portray comes from His Word, not from
our own ideas or agendas.
That's what it means to be a friend of Jesus.
Scott's Blog - 1/17/08
You Can Dig It
One of the most encouraging aspects of faith in
Christ, is that it isn't a leap into the dark, but a step into
the light. Unlike any other holy book, the Bible tells us what
God has done, not in some unreal, unverifiable other world, but
right here on planet Earth.
And because this is true, the claims of Scripture can be
uniquely verified through the proper application of disciplines
like archeology.
A tremendous example of this phenomenon in action crossed the
internet today.
A stone seal bearing the name of one of
the families who acted as servants in the First
Temple and then returned to Jerusalem after
being exiled to Babylonia has been uncovered in
an archeological excavation in Jerusalem's City
of David, a prominent Israeli archeologist said
Wednesday.
Photo: Edwin
Trebels courtesy of Dr.
Eilat Mazar
The 2,500-year-old black
stone seal, which has the name "Temech"
engraved on it, was found earlier
this week amid stratified debris in
the excavation under way just
outside the Old City walls near the
Dung Gate, said archeologist Dr.
Eilat Mazar, who is leading the dig.
According to the Book of Nehemiah, the
Temech family were servants of the First Temple
and were sent into exile to Babylon following
its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.
The family was among those who later
returned to Jerusalem, the Bible recounts.
"The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct
connection between archeology and
the biblical sources and serves as actual
evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible,"
she said. "One cannot help being astonished by
the credibility of the biblical source as seen
by the archaeological find."
The name on the image, the date of the seal, the connection
to the book of Nehemiah, all good.
But the interpretation of the image presented by Dr. Mazar runs
into a major problem.
The seal, which was bought in Babylon and dates to
538-445 BCE, portrays a common and popular cultic scene, Mazar
said.
The 2.1 x 1.8-cm. elliptical seal is engraved with two
bearded priests standing on either side of an incense altar with
their hands raised forward in a position of worship.
Dr. Eilat Mazar
Photo: Dr. Eilat Mazar Expedition
A crescent moon, the symbol of the chief Babylonian god
Sin, appears on the top of the altar.
Under this scene are three Hebrew letters spelling Temech,
Mazar said.
The Bible refers to the Temech family:
"These are the children of the province, that went up out of the
captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came
again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city."
[Nehemiah 7:6]... "The Nethinim [7:46]"... The children of
Temech." [7:55].
The fact that this cultic scene relates to the Babylonian
chief god seemed not to have disturbed the Jews who used it on
their own seal, she added.
Does something strike you as odd about Dr. Mazar's
conclusion that the crescent moon image above the priests
lifting their hands in worship on either side of the Temple
altar of incense was "the symbol of the chief Babylonian god
Sin"?
It should.
When we read the book of Nehemiah we are introduced to the story
of the Jews returning to Israel from 70 years of captivity in
Babylon.
Why were they exiled to this nation that was literally over run
by idols?
Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, set
your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against
them, 3 and say, ‘O
mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says
the Lord GOD to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and
to the valleys: “Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword
against you, and I will destroy your high places.
4 Then your altars
shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I
will cast down your slain men before your idols.
5 And I will lay the
corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will
scatter your bones all around your altars.
6 In all your
dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high
places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste
and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease,
your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be
abolished. 7 The
slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am
the LORD. 8 “Yet I will leave
a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword
among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries.
9 Then those of you
who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are
carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart
which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the
harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the
evils which they committed in all their abominations.
10 And they shall
know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I
would bring this calamity upon them.” (Ezekiel 6:1-10)
God sent the people of Israel into captivity because they
had abandoned the worship of the true and living God for
idolatry. The notion that the returning chastised exiles would
look upon an image of a false god on the seal of a priest as "no
big deal" is plain silly.
In fact Nehemiah was so committed to a no compromise approach to
faith that he insisted that those exiles who had married non
Jewish wives put them away for a very significant reason.
In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of
Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
24 And half of their
children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the
language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or
the other people. 25 So I contended
with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out
their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, “You
shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take
their daughters for your sons or yourselves.
26 Did not Solomon
king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there
was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made
him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even
him to sin. 27
Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil,
transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?” 28 And one of
the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was
a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him
from me. 29 Remember them, O
my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the
covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. 30 Thus I cleansed
them of everything pagan. I also assigned duties to the priests
and the Levites, each to his service,
31 and to
bringing the wood offering and the firstfruits at appointed
times.
Remember me, O my God, for good! (Nehemiah 13:23-31)
It is clear that Israel had learned her lesson concerning
idolatry. The notion of mixing idols in with the worship of the
true and living God wasn't going to be tolerated for a moment.
So what of the crescent moon on the Temech family seal? A far
more likely interpretation is that the priests depicted in the
inscription were not involved in paganism, but simply
celebrating the traditional Jewish New Moon ceremonies.
Special Temple worship at the beginning of each month was
clearly a regular part of the worship life of Israel.
Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the LORD my God,
to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the
continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and
evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set
feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to
Israel. (II Chronicles 2:4)
Once again we come face to face with what is known as the
myth of the white lab coat set. We naturally assume that people
with a PhD are instantly invested with almost supernatural
objectivity and infallibility. Yet here we see a conclusion
drawn that is not only completely at odds with the religious
convictions of the day, but is so wrong headed that a Sunday
School 101 graduate could spot it.
Kind of makes me wish that people who present themselves as
experts on things Biblical might take the time to actually read
the book.
But don't miss the miracle in the midst of the misinformation.
Preserved in stone is the same family name mentioned in the book
of Nehemiah. This grants us another wonderful piece of evidence
showing that the Bible deals with real people, in real
circumstances, encountering the reality of the true and living
God.
Once again, "the stones cry out".
Scott's Blog - 1/16/08
Messing With Jerusalem
If you are a regular reader of Scott's Blog,
you know we began the year with a feature called "What
To Anticipate in 2008".
And although we have promised to keep you updated as to how well
we have done in anticipating key prophetically significant
events, I honestly didn't think we would be seeing developments
begin to break so quickly.
If you recall, on January 10th we posted the following:
I believe that based on passages like Joel 3:1-3 God
takes a very dim view of nations bartering with His land. It
will be surprising if the concession oriented government of Ehud
Olmert lasts through the coming year. Prophecies like Revelation
11:1-3 indicate that the Temple Mount will remain at least
partially under Israeli control.
Well, here we are on January 16th. The dust has barely settled
following President Bush's visit to Israel and his declaration
that a comprehensive peace treaty between Israel and the
Palestinians would be reached by the end of the year.
Word has slipped that the Olmert government was willing not only
to divide Jerusalem, but also cede control of the Temple Mount
itself to the Moslems.
And as we anticipated, the political fall out is beginning to
register.
Israel's coalition in crisis over peace talks
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
Last Updated:
4:20pm GMT 16/01/2008
Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime
minister, suffered a major political setback today
when a Right-wing party withdrew from his coalition
government in protest at his support for peace talks
with the Palestinians.
Avigdor
Lieberman announces his party's withdrawal
The decision by Avigdor
Lieberman, the firebrand leader of the Yisrael
Beitenu party, to leave the government reduced Mr
Olmert’s ruling bloc to 67 MPs.
While this still left him with
a comfortable majority in Israel’s 120-member
parliament, it reduced dramatically his room for
political manoeuvre.
Mr Lieberman’s withdrawal
leaves Mr Olmert badly exposed on two fronts, with
both the religious Right-wing party, Shas, and the
Left-wing Labour party warning they could soon pull
out of the coalition, in which case a new general
election would be almost certain.
Mr Lieberman, who supports the
idea of removing all Israeli Arabs from Israel so
that it is an Arab-free nation, said his party was
leaving government because of Mr Olmert’s
willingness to give Palestinians land occupied by
Israel in 1967.
"Negotiations on the basis of
land for peace is a fatal mistake," he said during
the press conference where he announced the
withdrawal.
"If we pull back to the 1967
borders, everyone should ask himself, what will
happen the following day? Will the conflict stop,
will the terror stop? Nothing will change."
Speculation exists that Olmert
will put off any discussion of the fate of Jerusalem
and the Temple Mount until virtually all other
issues are addressed according to the so called
"Roadmap to Peace" outlined at the Annapolis talks.
But the fact that the fate of
Jerusalem has already been secretly discussed has
outraged the small but crucial political parties
that keep Olmert in power as Prime Minister. To add
to this, Olmert is currently under investigation in
an influence peddling scandal and may be brought up
on corruption charges within months.
On the other side of the fence,
Mahmoud Abbas has presented himself as the
representative of the Palestinians in these peace
talks. However no one in Gaza has apparently gotten
that memo, as today rocket attacks continued to be
launched from that territory controlled by Abbas'
arch enemies, the terrorist group Hamas.
Abbas may make promises of peace,
but without the ability to control the majority of
his own people, any agreement won't be worth the
paper it is printed on.
But here is a promise that the
entire world can count on.
The burden of the word of the LORD
against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches
out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth,
and forms the spirit of man within him:
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness
to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege
against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall
happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very
heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it
away will surely be cut in pieces, though all
nations of the earth are gathered against
it.(Zechariah 12:1-3)
Jerusalem will continue to be the flash point for
international conflict. And no lasting peace will come to her
until the Prince of Peace returns.
Scott's Blog - 1/15/08
The Power of a Prank
You remember the classics, don't you?
"Do you have Sir Walter Raleigh in a can?"
"Is your refrigerator running?"
Or the ever popular "Could you page Amanda Hugginkiss?"
There are few things that can tickle an adolescent funny bone
like a well executed prank call. Anonymous. Annoying.
Untraceable. The tri-fecta of immaturity. And in the end, no
harm done.
Unless the call happens to go out on a military channel in the
midst of a hot zone like the Persian Gulf.
To bring you up to speed, last week United States Navy ships
were forced to respond to a series of provocative maneuvers by
Iranian speed boats. In the midst of observing these craft make
increasingly bold passes and dropping unknown objects in the
water, the following radio message was received:
"I am coming to you. ... You will explode after ... minutes."
In the hearing of less professional and well trained personnel,
such a threat could have been reason enough to open fire and
bring the United States and Iran into a shooting war.
Fortunately cooler heads prevailed. The incident has been filed
under a growing list of near misses in that volatile region of
the world.
But now, another controversy. Who sent the threatening message?
Believe it or not, experts are suggesting that it might have
been the rough equivalent of a crank call.
Gulf prankster at issue in Iran dispute
CAIRO, Egypt -
Sailors in the Persian Gulf have known him for years: a
radio operator who taunts and insults passing ships. The rants
are heard and logged, then mostly forgotten.
But now the phantom voice has taken center stage in the
latest flurry of claims and counterclaims between Iran and the United States following a tense
high seas confrontation — raising new questions about whether
Washington could have gotten a key element of the story wrong.
The radio transmission — a staccato burst suggesting U.S. Navy ships were targeted for explosion
— was a central part of an audio-video presentation that U.S.
officials claimed showed Iranian speedboats swarming three Navy
warships on Jan. 6 in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway
that is the only entry and exit to the Gulf.
Iran has called the U.S. recordings fabrications.
Tehran's rebuttal received fresh attention after a newspaper
that focuses on Navy issues said veteran U.S. sailors believe
the threats could have been a well-known Gulf gadfly who has
been pestering Gulf ships since at least the 1980s. There is
also the possibility that more than one broadcaster has been
contacting ships over the years.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/gulf_us_war_of_words
Putting all this together, here is the bottom line. An
international incident that could have ended in the loss of
life, and the possibility of at least two nations going to war
was pushed to the brink by someone's idea of a joke.
"Ha ha. Just kidding."
As I read this account, I couldn't help but be reminded of
the power of words.
Granted, few of us will find ourselves in a place where a
flip remark will result in a world altering conflict. But how
may times can a careless word, a throw away remark, a half
thought through put down bring destruction to the personal world
of those on the receiving end?
James offers us this sobering warning -
If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect
man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put
bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their
whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large
and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small
rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a
little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the
tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so
set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets
on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the
sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame
the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men,
who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same
mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things
ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water
and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren,
bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields
both salt water and fresh (James 3:2-12)
In the same way, a well timed word of encouragement can make
an incredibly beautiful difference in life.
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold
In settings of silver. (Proverbs 25:11)
What kind of transmissions have you been putting out lately?
Scott's Blog - 1/14/08
Another Day, Another Jesus
Mark Twain once reportedly observed that "In the
beginning God made man in His own image and likeness, and ever
since we've been trying to return the favor."
If you want to see Twain's words in action, all you need to do
is to look at how Jesus is portrayed on the big screen.
In recent years we have seen Him portrayed as the husband of
Mary Magdalene in "The DaVinci Code".
He was reduced to an emotionally imbalanced, reluctant Messiah
who made crosses for the Romans to crucify his fellow Jews in
"The Last Temptation of Christ".
In "Godspell" He was a clown. In "Jesus Christ Superstar" He was
a man in over His head, needing the wise counsel of Judas.
And after watching this dizzying parade pass by, you might have
thought that every possible distortion of Jesus had been
covered.
And you would have thought wrong.
'Islamic Jesus' hits Iranian movie screens
A
director who shares the ideas of Iran's hardline president has
produced what he says is the first film giving an Islamic view
of Jesus Christ, in a bid to show the "common ground" between
Muslims and Christians.
Nader Talebzadeh sees his movie, "Jesus, the Spirit of
God," as an Islamic answer to Western productions like Mel
Gibson's 2004 blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ," which he
praised as admirable but quite simply "wrong".
"Gibson's film is a very good film. I mean that it is a
well-crafted movie but the story is wrong -- it was not like
that," he said, referring to two key differences: Islam sees
Jesus as a prophet, not the son of God, and does not believe he
was crucified.
Talebzadeh insists it aims to bridge differences between
Christianity and Islam, despite the stark divergence from
Christian doctrine about Christ's final hours on earth.
"It is fascinating for Christians to know that Islam
gives such devotion to and has so much knowledge about Jesus,"
Talebzadeh told AFP.
"By making this film I wanted to make a bridge between
Christianity and Islam, to open the door for dialogue since
there is much common ground between Islam and Christianity," he
said.
The director is also keen to emphasise the links between
Jesus and one of the most important figures in Shiite Islam, the
Imam Mahdi, said to have disappeared 12 centuries ago but whose
"return" to earth has been a key tenet of the Ahmadinejad
presidency.
The bulk of "Jesus, the Spirit of God", which won an
award at the 2007 Religion Today Film Festival in Italy,
faithfully follows the traditional tale of Jesus as recounted in
the New Testament Gospels, a narrative reproduced in the Koran
and accepted by Muslims.
But in Talebzadeh's movie, God saves Jesus, depicted as a
fair-complexioned man with long hair and a beard, from
crucifixion and takes him straight to heaven.
"It is frankly said in the Koran that the person who was
crucified was not Jesus" but Judas, one of the 12 Apostles and
the one the Bible holds betrayed Jesus to the Romans, he said.
In his film, it is Judas who is crucified.
Islam sees Jesus as one of five great prophets -- others
being Noah, Moses and Abraham -- sent to earth to announce the
coming of Mohammed, the final prophet who spread the religion of
Islam. It respects Jesus' followers as "people of the book".
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080113231632.1q3rt654&show_article=1
What do we make of Talebzadeh's film? I believe that it does
a great service to Christians in two key ways.
First, it shows that the Jesus of Islam is not the Jesus of
the Bible. The two portraits are completely unreconcilable. Did
Jesus die for the sins of the world on a cruel Roman cross? Or
did He take the express route to heaven and leave Judas to pay
the bill?
This is not a side issue.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I
preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I
preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that
He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to
the Scriptures (I Corinthians 15:1-4)
Paul defines the historical fact of Jesus' crucifixion as
part and parcel of the gospel itself, and an essential belief
for those who will inherit eternal life.
Second, "Jesus, the Spirit of God" also raises the most
foundational issue every believer needs to be prepared to share
with our Moslem friends - whose take on the last days of Jesus
is more reliable?
The Koran and the Haddiths were written over 600 years after
the time of Christ. The New Testament presents the testimony of
eyewitnesses of the events.
and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of
whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have
fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by
all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also,
as by one born out of due time. (I Corinthians 15:5-8)
Paul not only proclaims personal knowledge of the life, death
and resurrection of Jesus, he also calls a group of over 512 to
the witness stand to verify his testimony.
To confirm the reliability of the New Testament account that
Jesus was crucified, buried and raised from the dead, we should
also point out that those who reported these events were quite
willing to die rather than deny or change their story.
Standing before the same politicians who railroaded Jesus to
death, two of His disciples were warned in no uncertain terms
never to tell others about Him again.
Their response is telling.
But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is
right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you
judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and
heard.”(Acts 4:19-20)
Understanding not only what Islam teaches concerning Jesus,
but also the awesomely strong case the New Testament gives us in
response should not only strengthen our faith, but also give us
confidence in sharing with people who have a passion for
spiritual things, but not according to the facts God has
graciously given to us.
Scott's Blog - 1/11/08
The Power of Spiritual Abuse
As we have seen in our look ahead to 2008, the
issue of finding solid, Scripturally based spiritual leadership
we can trust is going to become more and more critical.
What does a genuine spiritual shepherd look like?
What are the signs of a clever church based con-artist?
How can we avoid being abused by leadership that is more
interested in our following them than Christ?
Check out our video blog "The Deeds of the Nicolaitans"
on the home page for answers!
Scott's Blog - 1/10/08
What To Anticipate In '08 - Part III
I am told that the Chinese word for "crisis" is
made up of two characters - danger and opportunity.
I couldn't help but think of this as we continue in our look
ahead at the coming year and focus in on what we can expect to
see take place spiritually in 2008.
The crisis side of this equation is pretty easy to identify.
Genuine believers in Jesus can expect an almost unprecedented
battle for Biblical truth in the months ahead.
The Conflict From Without
One of the most eye brow raising trends of this last year
has been the rise and popularity not just of atheism - but
anti-theism. Lead by best selling authors like Richard Dawkins,
Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, we have seen the views of
those who not only dismiss, but actually despise the God of the
Bible being more and more embraced by the mainstream of American
culture.
Dawkins' "The God Delusion" tells us that faith in God is a form
of mental illness. Harris has stated that religion is a social
problem that his hoped for utopian society of the future will
stamp out not just by force of reason, but execution if
necessary. Hitchens in his book "God Is Not Great" believes that
if you have faith, you are personally what is wrong with the
world today.
Sooner or later each of us will encounter a disciple of these
writers who will not be content with merely confronting your
faith, but will actually attempt to convert you from it to
atheism.
The Challenge From Within
If that sounds like a spiritual challenge, you ain't seen
nothin' yet. Even more disturbing than those who deny and
despise God is a growing trend toward compromise among those who
claim to be spiritual leaders in our day.
We recently have seen a letter of apology produced by the Yale
Center for Faith and Culture. The offense? The wrongs done by
Christians to Muslims.
Now there is nothing wrong with humbly admitting that those who
supposedly stood for Christ in times past have made some
horrible mistakes. But the Yale letter goes farther, essentially
saying that Christians and Muslims are worshipping the same God.
Love of God
We applaud that A Common Word Between Us and You
stresses so insistently the unique devotion to one God, indeed
the love of God, as the primary duty of every believer. God
alone rightly commands our ultimate allegiance. When anyone or
anything besides God commands our ultimate allegiance
– a ruler, a nation, economic progress, or
anything else – we
end up serving idols and inevitably get mired in deep and deadly
conflicts.
We find it equally heartening that the God whom we should
love above all things is described as being Love. In the Muslim
tradition, God, “the Lord of the worlds,” is “The Infinitely
Good and All-Merciful.” And the New Testament states clearly
that “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
http://www.yale.edu/faith/abou-commonword.htm
Sounds good, doesn't it? Until we begin to ask some pointed
questions. The Yale statement declares that idolatry is the
source of "deep and deadly conflicts". But what is an idol? It
is an attempt by man to make God into our own likeness and
image. It is the result of human speculation, rather than divine
revelation and is ultimately a distortion of Who God is in
truth.
In the case of Islam and Christianity the concept of the
reality of God is so distinct as to be irreconcilable. If you
take a trip to the Al Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem, you will find
inscribed on the third most venerated shrine in Islam the words
"God is not begotten, neither does He beget".
Now when we contrast this with one of the most foundational
truths in Christianity, "For God so loved the world He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him
should not perish but have eternal life.", we realize
that someone is woofin' here. Both of these statements cannot be
true at the same time. One represents the truth about our
Creator. The other is a distortion and a lie.
And yet the Yale statement attempts to gloss over this
crucial difference. This peace at any price form of compromise
would be tragic enough if it were only endorsed by a hot bed of
religious liberalism like Yale. But even more disturbing is the
fact that this statement was signed and endorsed by high profile
leaders associated with Evangelical, Bible believing
Christianity like Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Tony Campolo and
president of the National Association of Evangelicals Leith
Anderson.
It is a safe bet to assume that we will see within the church
an increasing trend toward concession and compromise, even on
issues as crucial as the nature of God Himself.
The Commitment From the Heart
So how are we to respond to such overwhelming challenges?
There is a particularly relevant prediction that not only
diagnoses the spiritual dangers of our day, but also provides
the only effective way to overcome them.
I charge you
therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge
the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.
Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,
but according to their own desires, because they have
itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and
they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be
turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things,
endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your
ministry. (II Timothy 4:1-4)
The word tells us that the main error of the last days will
be an attempt to construct a man centered, rather than Christ
centered approach to spirituality. In the case of the
anti-theists, they will attempt to place their own reason and
egoes on an altar and demand that all bow down to their world
view. In the case of the church, the lure of power and
popularity will cause more and more teachings to be motivated by
the fear of man, rather than a desire for God's approval.
But the Lord also tells us how not be be sucked into either
error. "Preach the Word!" If we make it our business to relate
God's truth to others both with our lips and our lives, the Lord
will reveal His presence in our lives with power.
The old saying is true- If we won't stand for something, we
will fall for anything. Let's pray for a renewed passion for the
Word of the Lord and for grace to shine with his light in these
darkening days.
Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)
Scott's Blog - 1/09/08
What To Anticipate In '08 - Part II
One of the most often heard objections to any
discussion of End Times prophecy can be summed up in two words -
"So what?"
If we are living in the last days there is nothing we can do
about it, so why get all caught up in the idea that Jesus could
return soon anyway? Or so the argument goes.
Actually, there is something we can do in response to living in
the shadow of the Second Coming. And Jesus wasn't subtle about
it.
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in
heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and
pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a
man going to a far country, who left his house and gave
authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded
the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know
when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at
midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—
lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to
you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:32-37)
Being ready for Christ's return begins with a
perspective of watchfulness. That is, we are to know the signs
of the times and major events Jesus foretold, and look for the
pieces of the puzzle to come together.
What prophetically significant events and issues are looming on
the horizon for 2008?
The Future of Israel
There is no more prophetically significant place in this
world than the tiny nation of Israel. The fact that Israel is a
nation again after nearly 1700 years in exile is both a
fulfillment of prophecies like Ezekiel 36, and nothing short of
a miracle. Her continued existence despite being the object of
hatred of virtually every neighboring country and a powerhouse
like Russia to the north is proof positive that God keeps His
promises.
What can we expect to see concerning Israel in the coming year?
In a real way we are already seeing it. 2008 has kicked off with
a high intensity visit from president George W. Bush, with the
avowed purpose of "nudging both sides to get back on the Roadmap
to Peace".
Left: President George W. Bush of the U.S. and Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel. Right: Palestinian Hamas
supporters at a protest in Gaza against Bush's visit.
(Kevin Lamarque and Suhaib Salem/Reuters )
President George W. Bush arrived in Israel on Wednesday
for his first trip there as president, and while he had some
tough messages to deliver about Israel's obligations to advance
peace, he was welcomed effusively by one of his firmest
supporters, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has also become a
friend.
Their relationship is politically useful to both men, but
they have also bonded - as politicians with difficult
challenges, as sports fans, as fitness devotees and as two
leaders who are both committed, in their own ways, to fighting
terrorism and Islamic extremism.
For Olmert, beset by coalition troubles, a poorly run war
in Lebanon and the looming final report of the Winograd
Commission into that war, the close connection to Bush is both a
lifeline and an insurance policy, that Israel will not be
pressed to sacrifice its security to satisfy the American desire
for a peace treaty.
Bush came here, and will go to the Palestinian
territories on Thursday, to push Olmert and the Palestinian
president, Mahmoud Abbas, to get serious about their
negotiations and their obligations to each other, as written in
the first stage of the "road map" for peace.
Under that plan, Israel is to stop settlement growth,
dismantle unauthorized outposts built by settlers since March
2001 and lift more travel restrictions on the Palestinians. For
their part, the Palestinians are to start to dismantle terrorist
groups and build the institutions of a responsible future state.
Bush said this was a "historic moment, a historic
opportunity," but added: "I'm under no illusions. This is going
to be hard work." He made it clear that he would not impose
terms on either party, saying, "America cannot dictate the terms
of what a state will look like."
Gazans greeted US President George W.
Bush with more than a dozen Kassam rockets and mortar shells on
Wednesday, including one instance in which a mother and baby
narrowly escaped death as a rocket slammed in to the Sderot
house in which they were staying.
The problem with the so called "Road Map to Peace" is that
it's first step requires the Palestinians not only to cease all
hostile actions toward Israel, but to eliminate all terrorist
groups from operating in their territory and to dismantle their
infrastructure.
Since the Palestinians are represented by Mahmoud Abbas and
his Fatah party, whose charter still includes the elimination of
Israel as a Jewish state by any means necessary it is hard to
get past step one. When we add to this the majority of
Palestinians elected a terrorist group called Hamas to run the
show in Gaza, it is pretty clear the "Road Map" has been a
nonstarter.
But that hasn't prevented the advocates of the failed policy
of "land for peace" to continue to press Israel for concessions.
More than once we have seen the United States turn a blind eye
to the flagrant violations of the agreement by the Palestinians,
all the while being more than happy to apply "a little pressure"
on Israel to compromise her own security.
What will we see in 2008? Undoubtedly more calls for Israel
to abandon her territory, including East Jerusalem and even the
Temple Mount itself with nothing more than a promise of good
behavior by her enemies in return.
I believe that based on passages like Joel 3:1-3 God
takes a very dim view of nations bartering with His land. It
will be surprising if the concession oriented government of Ehud
Olmert lasts through the coming year. Prophecies like Revelation
11:1-3 indicate that the Temple Mount will remain at least
partially under Israeli control.
So what?
The fact that the peace of the entire world seems to rest on
the fragile fate of Israel is a reminder to us of a key Biblical
truth.
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have
no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in
the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then
sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a
pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren,
are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a
thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not
of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep,
as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those
who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at
night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope
of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to
obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us,
that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you
also are doing. (I Thessalonians 5:1-11)
If we have learned anything since September 11, 2001 it is
that life can change in a New York minute. As New York Times
Best Selling Author Joel Rosenberg put it - "If you
are planning some major sin in your near future, you may want to
reconsider."
Look to the continuing tensions and seemingly unsolvable
conflict of the Middle East to keep the world on edge in 2008.
And as you do, stop and do a personal spiritual check up. If
peace is taken from the earth politically and internationally,
where will you find your peace personally?
Consider again Jesus' gracious invitation:
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world.”(John 16:33)
Scott's Blog - 1/08/08
What To Anticipate In '08 - Part I
Does the Bible seem like a long book to you?
Weighing in at well over 1,100 pages most people seem to think
so. But when we stop to think about the subject matter addressed
in the Word, like, oh, the meaning of life, the history and
destiny of creation, how to enter in to eternal life, and the
nature and personal character of God Himself, it really is
pretty brief.
In fact, the Bible tells us that in many ways we are getting as
efficient and well edited portrait of these issues as possible.
Consider this take on biblical brevity from the apostle John.
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if
they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world
itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
(John 21:25)
It stands to reason that if there was so much more that God
could have told us than what made the final Spirit inspired cut,
then what we have must be extremely important.
God certainly doesn't waste His words. In fact we are told that
each and every verse we find in the Bible is loaded with
spiritual power and intent.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of
God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
(II Timothy 3:16-17)
So there is no fluff, no
filler to found in the Scriptures. So what are we to make of
passages that seemingly repeat the same Scriptural truth?
A prudent man foresees evil and hides
himself,
But the simple pass on and are punished. (Proverbs 22:3)
A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;
The simple pass on and are punished. (Proverbs
27:12)
So of all the things that God could tell us, why do we find
this particular truth repeated?
The answer is both simple and inescapably practical.
In a world where it is so easy to get caught up swatting away
the gnat like cloud of anxieties that present themselves to us
today, God wants us to have a health sense of perspective
concerning the future.
Why is this so practical? It has been said that we all need
to be concerned about the future because we will all have to
live there some day.
This is why the Bible devotes one out of every three verses
to predictive prophecy.
In the predictions already fulfilled we can gain confidence
in the reliability of God's revelation to us.
But in the prophecies yet to be fulfilled, we can gain
certainty and stability even when circumstances around us get a
bit crazy.
And a very personally applicable strategy for making the most
of living in times like these.
Tomorrow, let's take a look at our immediate future here at
home. With a weather eye to the timeless perspective of God's
Word we will look
(SRL
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