I was reading a
blog today by a gentleman named Michael Weinstein, a lawyer, author, civil
rights activist, and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Mr. Weinstein is militantly opposed to
Christianity, particularly the exercise and or spread of Christianity in our
nation’s armed forces. In the subject
blog, posted April 16 of this year, Mr. Weinstein addressed fundamental
Christians as “monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their
weaponized and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates
in our nation’s armed forces.” The tone
of this blog, in conjunction with its vitriolic nature, clearly reveals Mr.
Weinstein’s lack of civility in the matter and furthermore his complete lack of
understanding or perception as to what it means to be a follower of Jesus
Christ. I would, therefore, like to
address a few of what appear to be the underlying presumptions of Mr.
Weinstein’s position concerning Christians and what we believe.
Pastor Robert's Blog
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Jonah and Harrison Okene
Jonah of the Bible has nothing on a man named Harrison Okene. On May 26, 2013 three Nigerian tug boats were
towing a tanker at sea. Without warning,
the tug boat Harrison Okene was on rolled over and sank in 100 feet of water in
the Atlantic Ocean. The tug boat came to
rest on the bottom of the ocean, upside down.
It was presumed by all concerned that the 12 man crew of Okene’s tug
boat perished. What they did not know
was Okene had found a compartment with an air pocket and he was alive in the
upside down tug boat on the bottom of the ocean, 100 feet down. A diving salvage team was about 75 miles away
and they were called in to recover the bodies of the crew. Imagine the surprise of the diver who swam
into the compartment where Okene was and found him alive. Okene had survived some 3 days, 36 plus hours
in the dark on the bottom of the ocean.
Okene was rescued and according to many news outlets, gives God all the
glory for hearing his prayers and delivering him from death. What an amazing story.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Thanksgiving 2013: Are You Thankful?
Thanksgiving is only a few days away. I don’t know about you, but I look forward to
the relaxation and fellowship with family and friends around the Thanksgiving
meal. Then there is the grandest of
American traditions, laying on the couch while watching parades and football,
all the while drifting in and out of a nap.
Yep, Thanksgiving Day is a great day of the year. Of course, this line of thinking set me to
wondering how many people are truly thankful, especially given that we have
this national holiday set aside for that very purpose? Here are a few thoughts we might consider
together when it comes to being thankful.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Atheism, What Is It?
Not long ago I was talking with a man who said very candidly
that he did not believe in God. He
seemed almost proud to proclaim he was an atheist. In fact, he proclaimed his atheistic position
as if it were some indication that he was somehow enlightened to ultimate
reality. The sad truth is, this
particular gentleman labeled himself an atheist and there was not the slightest bit of evidence
that he really understood what atheism is all about. The following are some basic concepts and
thoughts concerning atheism and how the position is completely untenable when
examined in light of absolute truth.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Church Growth 101
When we talk about church growth in
the 21st century we are almost exclusively speaking of how many
people attend the local church gathering on a weekly basis, predominately
Sunday morning. Mega churches seem to be
the pinnacle of achievement in the ministry with the idea that larger is better
and larger is the margin by which we measure success. I think we would agree, there is nothing
inherently wrong with a numerically large church. A lot of ministry can be accomplished in the
name of Jesus when a large number of believer’s pool God’s resources and spiritual
gifts. However, is numerical achievement
really the biblical measure of success?
Is a church with 600 attendees on Sunday morning more successful than
the church with 300, or 200, or 100? Is
the mega church paradigm what every pastor and church staff should be reaching
for? Let’s think about it.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Miley Cyrus, Bashar Assad, and Natural Law
Sometimes I read things in the news that are almost unbelievable
in either their ridiculousness or their heinousness. On the ridiculous side we have a 20 year old
Miley Cyrus performing (?) or dancing like she has lost her mind. Her father has
to be real proud of the way she has been acting lately. Then on the heinous side we have a Syrian regime
under Bashar Assad who is using chemical weapons to kill their own people. How sad to live in a country where the
government will use weapons of mass destruction on its own people. I could sit here all day listing news events
that make us shake our heads in utter disbelief that someone would dare think
these actions are acceptable choices to make.
Do these people know better? Yes,
they know better and yet choose to do what they know is wrong. Let’s think about how they know better.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Are You A Good Example?
As Christians we spend a lot of time talking about being a
witness to the lost world, and rightfully so.
One of the last things Jesus said before He ascended back to heaven was
for His followers, His church, to make disciples throughout the whole world
(Matthew 28.19-20). However, I was
thinking today about how we are witnesses to one another in the body of
Christ. The truth is, our witness in the
body of Christ is just as important as our witness outside the body of
Christ. As a maturing and growing child
of God you have the potential to be a tremendous example to other Christians of
what it looks like to walk with Jesus in this life. The apostle Paul said to the church at
Corinth, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians
11.1). What an amazing idea. The church meeting together for worship, believers
interacting with one another throughout the week, all the while sharpening one
another with the example of their walk and obedience to Jesus. Could it be that this is one of the reasons
the writer to the Hebrews commanded us not to forsake the assembling of
ourselves together (Hebrews 10.25)? Beloved
child of God, what kind of example are you setting for others in the
church? Is your life a light that others
might follow as they too learn to follow Jesus?
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