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IT MUST BE HATE
Yesterday I wrote about Tim Mackie’s contention that “Existence is a gift”. It occurred to me that this is not a sentiment that a Calvinist could ever affirm. Not logically anyway. After all, according to Calvinism, a great multitude of human beings throughout history were planned and created for the express purpose of being consigned eternally to Hell. They are there to give God a platform to demonstrate His justice in the face of sin. This supposedly “brings God glory”, but for all those reprobates who pay the price, it is certainly a bum deal. They didn’t ask to be…
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EXISTENCE IS A GIFT
“Existence is a Gift!” I heard Bible teacher Tim Mackie proclaim this truth recently and everything in me shouted “Amen!” The tragedy of human life is that for so, so many, God’s good gift of existence becomes a burden instead of a blessing. Sometimes it is by fault of circumstances beyond our control – the time and place and family of our birth. Or genes which have gone haywire. Sometimes life becomes a burden through our own poor choices. And the consequences which result. But even when existence becomes a burden, we do well to remember that, as Dallas Willard…
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MYRTLE BEACH TRAVELOGUE: WRAP UP
I broke my daily writing habit repeatedly over this past week. My excuses include exhaustion, illness, mild depression, self-pity, and a loss for words. Our Fall Break trip to Myrtle Beach contained plenty of misery but it wasn’t evenly distributed. I shouldn’t complain too much because some family members had it much worse than me. Sarah got one (late) afternoon on the beach finally on Friday – and then had to fly out early Saturday morning with her friend. (The original plan was for Sarah to fly out with Grandma Trudy, but Grandma was still in the hospital.) Anyway, Sarah’s…
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MYRTLE BEACH TRAVELOGUE #3
Yesterday did not go according to plan. I don’t want to go into details which are not my business to share, but Grandma Trudy ended up in the ER by the end of the evening yesterday after not feeling well for the last couple of days. Let’s just say this week has not been like past trips with Trudy – she’s always been the first to be ready to head outside – to the pool or the beach or a restaurant. But not this week. But Melissa spent a sleepless night with her in the ER and Trudy is sounding…
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MYRTLE BEACH TRAVELOGUE #2
I have been so tired lately and stretched so thin that this first non-driving day of vacation was kind of forfeited … to nothingness. I had no desire to go anywhere or do anything. And nothing I actually did do required any great effort and nothing was accomplished – which I think was my subconscious goal. I drank coffee, walked with Melissa, sat in a hot tub, took a nap, cooked a smore, walked the dogs, and made a run to Walmart. A gloriously unproductive day.
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A SIXTH SOLA
I found a new anti-Calvinism YouTuber recently hailing from New Zealand. His name is Steve Copland and he delivers well-reasoned, level-headed, and concise arguments against the major tenets of “Reformed Theology”. Occasionally, he makes a joke, but he’s so deadpan that, in my mind, it’s ten times funnier than it ought to be. His most memorable line is dependent on being familiar with the “Five Solas” which became the pillars of the Reformation: Sola Scriptura – “only Scripture” is the proper foundation for sound doctrine (not church teaching). Soli Deo Gloria – all of redemption is accounted “to the glory…
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MYRTLE BEACH TRAVELOGUE #1
A short synopsis of a long day: Awake at 5:30 to drink coffee, pray and finish sermon thoughts. Unload dishwasher, make a waffle and fry bacon for Melissa. 8:00 am – Load luggage carrier on top of rental van, stuff in three suitcases, and strap it all down. Shower. 9:30 – Sunday School 10:15 – I am impressed: Melissa arrives with Trudy, Sarah, Rebecca (Sarah’s friend who is spending the week with us in Myrtle Beach), Sarah’s boyfriend, Logan, and Sugar. 10:30 – Worship. The dog causes quite a stir. She CANNOT relax – too much to see, too many…
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CHEAT CODE
Instead of thinking of God’s Law as some odious list of dos and don’ts which must be observed to keep on the good side of an easily offended God, we’d be smart to think of the Law as a cheat code for reality. When the Creator of the Universe lays out a book in front of you and says, “Do this”, you would be wise to heed Him, right? After all, He’s the One who invented the reality. And – if you believe what He says in that book – then you have to admit that your own understanding is…
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LIKE THE SUNRISE
I watched a YouTube video today entitled “Atheist SURPRISED By (Christian’s) View Of SALVATION“. It was posted by the Christian and after watching it, I wondered why he didn’t delete it instead. He didn’t look too great. The atheist, on the other hand, seemed emboldened by the conversation rather than surprised. A large part of the conversation centered on the atheist asking the Christian what reason he had for believing in the Bible’s description of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Christian didn’t really have a great response. It was like he had never thought of it before.…
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RIGHTNOW
Our Indiana/Kentucky region of the American Baptist Church recently made a deal with RightNow Media, “the world’s largest library of Bible study video resources”. It’s a subscription service where the church pays a flat monthly due based on church size. The church is then able to distribute access to the media across its membership at no extra cost. So ABC churches are being offered a discount and all the area pastors had a Zoom call the other day with one of RightNow’s sales reps. He showed us all the tens of thousands of videos in their library. It’s impressive. The…