The End of Christian Freedom in the U.S.?

With the recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage (marriage equality), there have been dire warnings from numerous sources heralding the negative effects of this landmark decision.  Todd Starnes has outlined one in this opinion piece: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/08/11/chaplains-banned-from-preaching-that-homosexuality-is-sin.html.

Essentially, a Christian chaplain in Kentucky was told he could no longer minister to juvenile inmates because he refused to “sign a state-mandated document promising to never tell inmates that homosexuality is ‘sinful’”.  Although the final outcome will be decided in court, this is just one example of Christians being discriminated against for not toeing the the line of political correctness. Continue reading

What Does Jesus Look Like?

Here is a news article about the image of Jesus supposedly appearing on the cinder-block of a bathroom in a Mexican home.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3186245/Do-Image-Jesus-seen-bathroom-wall-Mexico-home.html

As we know, people from all over the world have said they have seen Jesus in clouds, various foodstuffs, buildings, etc.  There is one little problem with this.  Nobody knows what Jesus looked like.  Continue reading

Does Free Will Exist?

I’m reading a book written by an agnostic critical of the Christian faIth and theism in general.  It’s titled “Divinity of Doubt” by Vincent Bugliosi.  It is sort of an apologetic for agnosticism, so he is also critical of atheism as well. There is no doubt that Mr. Bugliosi is an intelligent and well-educated man.  His reasoning and wit in the book is engaging.  He has made me thoroughly interested in the view of Christianity from an agnostic perspective.  However, I am not persuaded.  In this post, I would like to address just one of his criticisms which I found to be very odd. Continue reading

Serve Christ with Humility

Philippians 3:4-7  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:  5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;  6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.  7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

More than anyone else, the Apostle Paul could have boasted of himself.  He was a “Hebrew of Hebrews” with Pharisaical training and a zeal for the law.  In fact, he was “blameless” concerning the law.  In addition, he was intellectually sharp and and well-respected.  By his own admission, he could have had “confidence in the flesh”.  But he didn’t. Continue reading

Why Memorize Scripture?

Scripture memory should be a part of every Christian’s regular disciplines, but it seems to have fallen out of practice with far too many believers.  There are many good reasons to memorize verses from the Bible.  Here are a few.

  • It makes you less likely to sin.  “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalm 119:11)  See also the example of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11. Continue reading