Archive for the 'The Bible' Category
photo credit: ptufts
I’ve heard it said that if God were all-loving, He wouldn’t possibly allow pain. And while there’s a lot of apologetics about this topic, I recently heard one really good one from my pastor, Steve Dewitt. I don’t have the exact quote, but you can listen to the sermon here. Too sum up, he basically challenges us to put the hypothesis of ‘a good god wouldn’t allow pain’ to the test when looking at the person whom God loved the most: Christ. Did Christ, God’s own son, have a life without pain? Absolutely not! Ridiculed by others, sought to be imprisoned by the Pharisees, leading to his capture, mockery of a trial, then a severe scourging (watch ‘The Passion of the Christ’ if you don’t know what a scourging is. Needless to say, it’s really brutal), after which he is forced to carry his own cross down the street and up a hill to where the Romans nailed him to it, then hung him there until he was dead. Sound like a life without pain? You see, the hypothesis of a good God not allowing pain fails right in the example of Jesus. The hypothesis is wrong. God, in fact, disciplines those He loves:
6 “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” (Hebrews 12:6)
Christianity doesn’t suport the idea that believers have all their problems whisked away and you like a care-free lifestyle. Far from it. In fact, we are promised the opposite. Jesus tell us that, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
So then, what’s the point of the pain that God is causing us? The answer lies in Hebrews 12:7-11:
7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
I’m sure anyone who has kids can relate to this passage. Kids need to be disciplined. They just don’t seem to listen, behave properly, etc etc. So much like grown-ups in the eyes of the Lord. We sin. We don’t listen to Him, nor to we obey when we do listen! We need discipline, and God knows it. And that’s why there’s pain. But take heart, it’s only temporary. And the lessons learned from it are given to us so that we may become more like Christ.
April 13 2008 | Christianity and Pain and Problem of Evil and The Bible | No Comments »
photo credit: anomalous4
(Ok, this might be in bad taste, but it’s just too funny not to link to) If you’re a cat person, you’ll probably like lolcats.com. It contains really cute pictures of kittens and cats and such. Along with those pictures there are little captions, something like “i can has cheezburger?” or “oh hai, im in ur fridj, eatin ur cookees.” These little captions have now become their own language, and as such, someone has begun (and maybe finished) translating the bible in LOLCat. I’m an insane nerd, so I got a big laugh out of it 
so go check it out, or at least check out lolcats!
LOLCat Bible Translation Project
Revelation 1:1-3 : “John haz sum revelashunz. Tehy frum teh Bebeh Jebus, but wuz furst frum Ceiling Cat, an tehy to show what iz comin. Teh Ceiling Cat sended hiz angel to John to give revelashunz. John sez iz all totally troof, zactly what teh Ceiling Cat and Bebeh Jebus sayed. He no lie. Srsly.
Everwun what reedz these wurdz will has cheezburgrz and everwun what heerz theez wurdz will has cheezburgrz. Also, pay attenshuns, cuz iz comin. Habeeb it.”
I can has eeturnl lief?
April 04 2008 | Bible Study and Humor and The Bible | No Comments »
photo credit: e-magic
There’s a lot of questions going around these days with all the political types wonder who’s going to be the democratic nominee (boring), how McCain got the republican nominee (go Ron Paul!), and what they both hold for the future of our country. Personally, I don’t see it mattering much unless Obama gets elected. He seems like a strong leader from what I’ve seen of him (I don’t agree w/ where he stands on a few issues; isn’t it always the lesser of two evils when picking candidates anyways tho?), whereas the other two just seem like more of the same of what we’ve got the past 8 years.
Other questions float about as well. Theological questions. Philosophical questions. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more important question that what Jesus asked of Peter in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, verses 13 through 17:
13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
‘What about you?’ indeed. This might be the most important question facing us today. Who do we say that Jesus Christ is? Is he the son of God, as he claimed to be, or maybe just a prophet or good teacher? What does it mean for our lives, our future, our past?
If you’ve ever wondered about these questions, or any other theological or philosophical question, I’ve added a new page to my site, aptly titled “Ask a Question!” Feel free to ask whatever question has been floating around your mind!
I’ll give you a little tidbit on the answer to Jesus’ question tho 
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
Enjoy!
March 26 2008 | Christianity and Internet and The Bible and Who God Is | No Comments »
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. - Jeremiah 29:11-14
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March 18 2008 | Christianity and The Bible | No Comments »
photo credit: noahwesley
My pastor recently gave a sermon on stewardship entitled “How to be Rich Poor!” It was a good sermon given in the negative about how to live a life that God won’t bless. For example, if you don’t want to reap what you have sown (2 Cor 9:6), be sure to give with a bad attitude, because we know God loves a cheerful giver, and we don’t want to be shown God’s love.
Get it? I hope so. Let’s move on.
It really made me think about the prosperity gospel. A person who maybe was coming to our church for the first time might be lead to think, “This is a message on how to get rich, so if I give money to God, I will reap a reward of money! Sign me up!”
Is this a true way to think about 2 Cor 9:6 tho? Does God really want us to be financially rich? Is the fact that your are rich show that you’re favored somehow by God? Let’s look at the facts.
Click here to continue reading…
March 10 2008 | Christianity and Money and The Bible | No Comments »
photo credit: Paul L McCord Jr
I’ve recently purchased a King James version of the Bible. If you don’t know, it’s the version with all the ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ translation. Really great stuff, adds another element to reading the Bible. But for all it’s elegant speech, it does get a little silly sometimes:
“Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh.” John 11:39
If that’s not funny, I don’t know what is.
March 09 2008 | Christianity and The Bible | 2 Comments »