Define "The Same"

John Kerry told the New York Times that he has the same position on gay marriage that President Bush has.

Really.

I'm sure that the gay rights lobby will be VERY interested in this development. Next thing you know, Kerry will be telling us that he voted for the Federal Marriage Ammendment, right before he voted against it.

Or maybe he's been so concerned about other things that he didn't realize that the President is against same-sex marriage. Though I wonder how he could have missed that.

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Presidential Prayer

Day 17 is here at Spare Change.

Day 16 is here at Time To Believe.

The remaining days calendar is here.

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Presidential Prayer, Day 15

Right here at Spare Change.

Still 11 spots open between now and the election.

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Study of Mark: Mark 6:7-13

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff -- no bread, no bag, no money in their belts -- but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, "Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them." So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
(Mark 6:7-13 ESV)

The disciples go out on their own for the first time. The first "missionary trip", so to speak.

Notice that they are supposed to live in the communities that they are trying to reach. 'Don't go from house to house, and make everyone in the town wait on you. Stay with one family, who will have you.' They were also not to take any supplies with them -- they were to trust God to supply all their needs.

I think it's interesting that we know so little about the results of the outreach. We know they cast out demons in Christ's name, and by His authority. They healed people. They preached repentance. They came home. We find out in the next section some of the results of the outreach, but we don't know how many people they attracted.

I think this may be because it wasn't the Gospel they were preaching. They preached repentance, just as John the Baptist did. The Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ -- and all that was still three years away. They had no risen Savior to proclaim.

So why did Jesus send them out? To establish the way that missions work was to be done. Faith in God for your financial support. Not taking advantage of the people you are witnessing to (as Paul would point out to the Corinthian church later on). Going out in pairs -- with someone to support you. I'm sure that there were times that the disciples got discouraged -- but they always had someone with them to lift them up in prayer to God. They were faithful to the calling of God. They went out in the authority of Christ. And they did have an impact on people.

I think that this experience helped them later on, when they went out into the world. And I think they noticed a big difference, once they had the full story to tell people.

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Christian Carnival is in town ...

At Belief Seeking Understanding.

Part one is right here. And Part two is right here.

And my post is ... absent. Sorry. This has been a rough couple of weeks at school, trying to get things done in case I actually find EMPLOYMENT. Which hasn't happened yet.

Bugs me most because I didn't take a class I REALLY wanted to (History of the Reformation) because it met when I figured I'd be working. I should have just taken the class. {sigh}

Next week.

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I'm Getting Published!

Hi, Thanea is back! And I received word today that I will officially be a published author! If you can't tell, I am excited.

Last spring, I sent a manuscript for a real-life ghost experience to a publisher who specializes in personal ghost stories. I received an email today with a contract. It may not pay well, but to an author seeing your name in print is a major rush.

Sorry to brag, but I just can't help it. I'll be back soon with my usual nonsense and soap-boxing.

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The Hockey Alternative

Since the NHL doesn't look like it will be playing any time soon, I've gone in search of an alternative source for my hockey fix this season.

The WHA showed some promise, but I have no idea when they plan on actually playing a game. The website SAYS this winter, but I won't be holding my breath.

The best alternative -- especially where I am -- is the AHL. Cinci has a team, as does Cleveland. And they've managed to sign some NHL players to contracts.

Or maybe I'll just watch NCAA hockey and pro football this fall. I can get Ohio State hockey tickets at a decent price.

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Presidential Prayer

I've missed a few of these, so here goes:

Day 11, at Spare Change.
Day 12, at Spare Change.
Day 13, at Spare Change.
Day 14, at Sideline Squawkbox.

There are still 17 days that haven't been taken, so PLEASE head over to Spare Change and let Bryan know if you can contribute.

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Is Inerrancy Important?

From the 1689 London Baptist Confession:

1._____ The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.
( 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Isaiah 8:20; Luke 16:29, 31; Ephesians 2:20; Romans 1:19-21; Romans 2:14,15; Psalms 19:1-3; Hebrews 1:1; Proverbs 22:19-21; Romans 15:4; 2 Peter 1:19,20 )

So, is it important that Scriptures are inerrant? After all, the word doesn't show up at all in this confession.

The word infallible means: "Incapable of erring". That is actually MORE than just inerrant. Inerrant says that the Bible doesn't contain errors. I can write a report that is inerrant, as long as I do my research carefully and make sure that someone else proofreads it. Infallible, which shows up in pretty much every major confession in early Protestant history, says that the Bible is not capable of making a mistake. I can't write an infallible paper -- anything I write is capable of being mistaken, whether it actually is or not.

But is it important that Scripture contains no error? Yes, because if we find any error in it, how can we be certain that we have caught them all? What I'm trying to say is that if there's one error that we know of, how can we be certain that the things we believe in Scriptures aren't actually errors? If we cannot trust that God has given us a reliable, error-free book, how can we base something as important as our eternal destiny on anything that is in that book?

Some would say experience. We have to experience God, and we can do that through the Bible. How can we know what we are experiencing if we cannot trust the medium we are experiencing it through? Without a Bible that I can trust, how do I even know that Christ really has risen from the dead? I cannot experience that historical event -- unless someone is hiding a time machine that they haven't mentioned before. I can only know about that event through the historical record. If the Bible is not trustworthy, I have no reliable record to turn to.

If I have to trust experience, how do I judge what is a good experience? Experience is subjective, so I can't judge based on what others have experienced. How can I tell what I am encountering, without a reliable guide to show me? How do I discern that it is the Holy Spirit guiding me into knowledge if I have no guidelines to show me what the Holy Spirit's job is?

I know people who sincerely believe that they are being led by God in directions that are contradictory to the Scriptures. Is their religious experience any less valid than mine? Is mine any less valid than theirs, for relying on the Bible rather than on experience? Does it even matter, as long as we each have a meaningful religious experience?

Experiential revelation, that is, revelation based solely on personal experience or encounter, can be very meaningful and life changing. But if it contradicts the Scripture, how do we know what the source of that experience is? God is not the only spiritual being in existence, after all. Satan is a great deceiver, and our perceptions are not always the most reliable ways of gaining information, even about the physical world. Objective rvelation is a must, if we are to seriously contend that Christianity is God's Truth.

If we are to take seriously the Reformation idea of sola Scriptura, we have to believe that the scriptura is without error, and is totally trustworth.


This is the first of (probably) several posts about the idea of inerrancy, infallibility, authority, etc. of Scripture. I'll end up talking about what sola scriptura actually means, vs. what people think it means, theories of inerrancy, and maybe even a little translation theory and the original autographs. yeah, I'm being ambitious. I figure it will make up for the weenie posts I've had here recently.

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Another Christian Political Party

Thanks on this one to Antioch Road, which is a new addition to the blogroll, even though I've been reading it for a little while now with my RSS newsreader.

The Lighthouse Party's mission is simply to be heard.

Our mission is to be heard. Our mission is for everybody to know who we are and what we stand for. Though our belief in Christianity is slowly declining here in America, and in the world, our popularity would not get us elected. Even though we understand this, it does not give us the right to sit back. We need to continue to fight for what is right regardless of its popular standing.

They at least recognize that it's tough for a third party to be elected. And they're brand new - just founded in September this year. IT will be interesting to see how this new party grows and changes, and especially what their platform will shape up into. I'm hoping that they won't simply be another Constitution Pary, but that they will have a platform that all Christians can support.

And I hope that they remember that, as Christians, we have a power greater than politics -- a power that can bring change to the world, one life at a time.

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Jenkins/LaHaye II?

From Christian Retailing

Jerry Jenkins said Wednesday that he and "Left Behind" partner Tim LaHaye are "at the paperwork stage" with Viking Press for another book series.
"Dr. LaHaye and I are very excited about this idea," Jenkins told Christian Retailing. "The novels will be set in New Testament times with the ministry of Jesus as the focus and a different disciple as the perspective character in each."

The New York Observer reported last week that the "Left Behind" duo was close to signing a multimillion-dollar contract for a four-book series titled "The Jesus Chronicles."

"The parties have agreed in principle, so we're at the paperwork stage now," Jenkins explained about talks with Viking, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. "The first manuscript will not be due for more than a year, so I believe they're looking at a late '06 release."

Jenkins also is busy with another "Left Behind" project.

"I'm currently writing book one in the 'Left Behind' series, The Rising: Birth of Antichrist. Eventually the original "Left Behind" will become book four," Jenkins added, citing George Lucas' recent "Star Wars" prequels.

The popular end-times drama's last installment, Glorious Appearing, was released in March. At that time, the "Left Behind" series had sold more than 60 million units of the books and related products. The series has brought in estimated revenues of around $1 billion.

So we have "Left Behind" prequels and a new series, and Jerry Jenkins thinks he's George Lucas.

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Quotables

I found these while surfing around the Internet, and I figured I'd share:

"He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife."
-Douglas Adams

If you've never read any of Adams' stuff, you need to. The guy is as big an atheist as I've ever read, but his books are genuinely funny and on occasion very thought-provoking. He's good at pointing out inconsistancies in everyone's worldviews -- including his own.

"It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards."
-Lewis Carroll

If you REALLY think about this one, he's right. We need to learn from our mistakes, so we can apply that knowledge to today and tomorrow. So in that sense, it really is our memories working in both directions -- backward and forward.

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Presidential Prayer, days 9 and 10

Day Nine and Day 10, both at Pawigoview.

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Pseudo-scientific Garbage

You HAVE to read this column by Al Mohler. He's reviewing The God Gene by Dean Hamer. I don't have to tell you that he doesn't really think much of it; what I LOVE about this article is what he writes at the end:

As [Carl] Zimmer notes, "The field of behavioral genetics is littered with failed links between particular genes and personality traits. Those alleged associations at first seemed very strong. But as other researchers tried to replicate them, they faded away into statistical noise. In 1993, for example, a scientist reported a genetic link to male homosexuality in a region of the X chromosome. The report brought a huge media fanfare, but other scientists who tried to replicate the study failed. The scientist's name was Dean Hamer."

That's right. Dean Hamer is most famously [or infamously] known for his claim to have found a genetic explanation for male homosexuality. That study created a firestorm in the press, and though it was never replicated in order to establish scientific credibility, it quickly became standard fare for arguments claiming homosexuality to be absolutely natural, and therefore normal.

As Zimmer laments, "Given the fate of Hamer's so-called gay gene, it is strange to see him so impatient to trumpet the discovery of his God gene." Zimmer then turns the table on Hamer, arguing that The God Gene should have been entitled A Gene That Accounts for Less than One Percent of the Variants Found in Scores on Psychological Questionnaires Designed to Measure a Factor Called Self-Transcendence, Which Can Signify Everything from Belonging to the Green Party to Believing in ESP, According to One Unpublished, Unreplicated Study. In the scientific community, that's undiluted condemnation.

It isn't often that Dr. Mohler reads his column to us in class on Friday (in fact, today was a first), but he was proud of this piece, and justifiably so. Unfortunately, the questionable science behind the study will take a back seat to the sensational results -- which will be headlined everywhere.

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Turnabout II

Not long ago, I wrote about a cheap shot that a writer for the Palm Beach Post took regarding hurricane season this year. Well, I found this today.

Someone is saying that God is punishing Floridians for their sins, but it AIN'T the religious conservatives. It's LIBERALS!!!!

Get a grip, and a clue, people. God isn't partisan, and HE'S the one who put Bush in office. AND Clinton, AND Reagan, AND Carter, AND ...

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