Whole Reason

Mark 12:41-44 - At the bottom

Here is my sermon from 12/06/09 entitled At the Bottom.  Based on Mark 12:41-44, it covers these main points.

1. Turn towards God, not away
2. Do not worry
3. God is doing something new
4. Put God first
5. Give what you have

At the bottom

God's cartoonist - Jack Chick

You either love or hate 'Chick Tracts' - this documentary is interesting.  Imagine this - over 1 Billion of these have been printed, in over 100 languages.  Jack Chick may be the most successful cartoonist, in numbers of items sold, ever.  And yet, he is not that well known. 

Why the unconverted can't tell a Pharisee from a Christian

The problem with humanists is that they throw out the baby with the bathwater. They call it 'humility' to suspend judgment, yet they judge others in matters that suit them. They want compassion for all, but any hint of truth they dislike coming from the mouths of others equals Phariseeism. The real truth is, they can't tell a true Christian from a Pharisee. To them, Paul was a Pharisee when he condemned sins (of course, he was a Pharisee before conversion).

The essence of Phariseeism is that keeping of the rules makes one righteous. A true Christian knows that this is not so, yet he seeks moral purity because he loves God and hates sin. He hides in mercy and gives it to others, but also seeks to live and declare the truth to save himself and others from sin.

An unconverted 'Christian' flees from the truth and towards truthless mercy because he, remaining uncoverted, still wants his sin more than God. He can not preach against sin, except that of 'judging others' because he himself is still living in it, powerless to transcend or fight it without the indwelling spirit, and must make excuses for himself.

In being 'graceful' (truthless) with others, he may pass this off as generosity, but he is mostly excusing himself from continuing in sin. And until the supernatural power of God does convert him, he can do naught but try to fool himself and others that he is really Christian.

Are you a Christian because of your experiences, or because of logic?

In Why do some Christians become atheists?, I discussed five reasons why some Christians may have abandoned faith to become atheists - some noble reasons, some not.  The ensuing commentary helped me see that these same principles can be applied to any faith or anti-faith decision.  Here are those now six ideas, but I wanted to also ask the question - is Christianity primarily or first a decision of the heart or head?  I argue that, to the chagrin of logicians and empiricists, Christianity is a religion of the heart - that is, conviction of the intuition and conscience, not an intellectual decision of the mind.

You are a Christian because (choose all that apply):

1. You were raised that way, and have never seriously considered any other viewpoint, nor seriously questioned your faith.
2. You made an emotional decision to become Christian during a dark time in your life.
3. You felt a deep conviction and a reality in the presence and peace of God that led you to receive Christ.
4. Your conversion was based on the first good argument you heard, and you came from a position of weak ideological commitment - again, you may have never seriously considered any other viewpoint.
5. You are caught up in the novelty of your new Christian world view mostly because it is different, and will leave it when the novelty wears off.
6. Reason and experience have led you to your conclusion that Christianity is true.

Leaders in hell, an Obama joke

A joke from the conservative spamosphere...

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George Bush, Queen Elizabeth, and Vladimir Putin all die and go to hell. While there, they spy a red phone and ask what the phone is for.

The devil tells them it is for calling back to Earth.

Putin asks to call Russia and talks for 5 minutes.  When he was finished the devil informs him that the cost is a million dollars, so Putin writes him a check.

Next Queen Elizabeth calls England and talks for 30 minutes.  When she was finished the devil informs her that cost is 6 million dollars, so Queen Elizabeth writes him a check.

Finally George Bush gets his turn and talks for 4 hours. When he was finished the devil informed him that there would be no charge for the call and feel free to call the USA anytime.

When Putin hears this he goes ballistic and asks the devil why Bush got to call the USA free.

The devil replied, "Since Obama became president of the U.S. the country has gone to hell, so naturally it's a local call."

An Anti-theist reading list

I just discovered (via the Secular Nation podcast, one of the many atheist/anti-theist/secularist podcasts I follow) Margaret Downey's answer to the Christmas Tree, the Tree of Knowledge - that is, an atheists' substitute for the religious celebration of Christ. 

Downey has a long reading list that represents perhaps the best (?) that skeptics of faith have to offer.  I have reproduced the list below. 

Downey is a true despiser of religion - she even hates when people exclaim "Oh God!" but you can bet she's not concerned about taking God's name in vain.

Why are Jews predominantly liberal?

One of the most annoying voices on conservative talk radio is Mark Levin, author of the bestselling Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto.  However, it's all I've got some days, and once in a while, he has an interesting guest rather than the lowbrow callers that frequent the more rant-ridden types of shows. 

Today, he had Norman Podhoretz, author of the controversial new book Why Are Jews Liberals?

You can listen to the 10 minute interview I've excerpted from the Levin archive. But the main interesting points I got from the interview were:

1. In the mid 19th century, it was liberalism that defended Judaism from the threats of fascism.
2. In 1967, a great shift occurred in American politics.  The left became increasingly anti-Zionist to the point of being anti-Semitic, while the right, esp. the Christian right, began seriously taking up the cause of Israel.
3. However, Jews did not become conservative because

(a) Converting or turning to conservatism in Jewish culture is as objectionable as converting to Christianity, and most Jews abhor both.

(b) Liberalism has replaced the values of the Torah for most Jews - where the two disagree, most Jews now side with liberalism and NOT the Torah.  That is, liberalism is now the predominant religious stance of most Jews.

There's much more great content in the interview, including Jews' support for Obama.  Enjoy.

Podhoretz interview on Mark Levin

Create jobs with government spending? STUPID

Conservatives are getting tired of Obamanomics - it's just plain idiotic to think that we can tax, spend, and borrow our way out of our economic problems.  It's contrary to reason and history.  In fact, as Orrin Hatch recently remarked in exasperation at this anti-sense position, it's stupid.

Top 4 Action Steps to combat Obama's Insane Policies

Courtesy of Faith 2 Action.

1. Government Health Care Takeover. The Senate debate of health care is now underway.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants a vote to take place before Christmas. Strongly urge your two Senators to oppose this bill at 202-224-3121.  Send "Pink Slips" to all of them (as well as each Congressman) here.

2. Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.   There is great concern that the U.S. will enter into some type of agreement  when world leaders meet in Denmark for a global climate change conference that starts on Monday.  This treaty would be devastating to our economy and sovereignty.  The U.S. could also be asked to contribute billions of dollars toward implementing this.   Call the White House at 202-456-1414 and your two Senators at 202-224-3121 to express opposition to this treaty.  A number of large companies, including Coca-Cola, are supporting the treaty efforts..   Call them, and strongly urge them to withdraw their support for Copenhagen.

3.  Energy Tax Bill.   It's appearing less and less likely that a "cap-and-trade" bill will pass this year, but we must not become complacent about it.  It has already passed by the House and sub-committees in the Senate.  Continue to ask your Senators to oppose this bill at 202-224-3121.  Contact the companies supporting this and consider boycotting them, including BP America, Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Ford, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, and Pepsi.

4.  Safe School Czar.   Kevin Jennings, the homosexual activist who was recently chosen by the President to run the Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools.  Call your Congressman at 202-224-3121 to ask Congress to expel Jennings.   Then, send letters to the President and your Congressional leaders through expeljennings.org

Guide: Best Android Apps for the Motorola Droid

Here's my list of favorites.  Feel free to comment, and bookmark this page, I will update regularly, I'm always testing.  Thanks!

You can easily get these by either (1) visiting this page in your Droid browser and clicking on the QR Barcodes below, or (2) visiting this page on your computer, and using Barcode Scanner to scan the QR codes with your Droid.  Nice.

Last Updated: 12/07/09

Updates:

• Added Star Contact
• Update 1: Since Android does NOT support bluetooth voice dialing, I am turning in my Droid tomorrow for a Samsung Omnia II (youtube)
• Update 2: OMG, Windows Mobile is to terrible!  The Omnia II waw godawful, I returned it today.  Back on the DROID until the Passion comes out!