Tune Tuesday - Thundering Amazing

I do enjoy the group Celtic Thunder...and I love the song "Amazing Grace"...here's a great combo:

TUNE TUESDAY - Tricky? Yeah, but FANASTICAL

It is official. I am a rend-ite. Unapologetically.

Some might call this cheesy, gimicky, or whatever...I don't give a rip...I love it..and I love them...

Preferences, convictions, and CONVICTIONS

I can't recall from whom I first heard it...

"A preference is something you'll argue about; a conviction is something you'll die for."

Good saying.

But I've added to it...

"A preference is something you'll argue about; a conviction is something you'll die for; a thought-out, prayed-out Biblical conviction is something you'll let your family die for."

That last list is very short.

I wonder, do you agree?

And, of so, what's on your "let your family die for" list???

Listen Up, Parents

When children are little we often fail to engage them in significant conversation. When they try to engage us, we respond with uninterested “uh huh’s.” Eventually they learn the ropes. They realize that we are not interested in what goes on in them. They learn that a “good talk” for us is a “good listen” for them. When they become teens, the tables turn. Parents wish they could engage their teens, but the teens have long since stopped trying.
 
Tedd Tripp

Tune Tuesday - What Song Reminds You Most of Church?

Okay, this is a tad negative I suppose...but every time this song comes to my mind I think of church politics etc...thankfully not all churches have this difficulty...but...Hey, any other songs come to mind when you think of church?

Augustine Nails It

Though his original quote, cited next, is deadly...deadly...accurate; it would also be accurate....deadly accurate...were the word "Bible" substituted for the word "Gospel"...and certainly that is the growing...and growing rapidly...cancer of the professing church today...

"If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself."

Augustine

What Would I Do If...

The teen shared that her brother had "come out." 

We discussed it; we prayed together.

Then she asked:

"What would you do if one of your children said they were gay?"

I shot a telegram prayer, and responded...recognizing that as in many such scenarios we don't actually "know" until/unless we are there...

• I'd continue to love my child
• I'd pray they'd come to their spiritual senses...no matter what the Lord did to enable that
• I'd not attend or support in any way a "wedding" or civil union
• Though my child would always be welcome, I'm not certain if I'd allow a "partner" in my home for a visit...but if I did, and if I let them spend the night; it would be in separate rooms...just as if it was a son with a girlfriend not his wife etc...
• I'd shed tears, but I'd not beat myself up wondering "what did I do..or not do"
• If my child were to draw a line and say, "you either accept us as a couple or you'll never see me again" I would tearfully hold to my conviction that I can't even insinuate approval of continued sin
• And, for clarification, I'd do the same if one of my children was what we used to quaintly call "shacked up" with a member of the opposite sex..

I Think Compromise is great...

Ah, does this remind you of church, ah, discussions? We don't do too well on the "unity" thing...and everyone thinks compromise is great...as long as it isn't me that has to give in...

Your Own Fault...Your Own Duty

Amazing how contemporary this is, considering it was written over 150 years ago...

 "I hear many daily complaining that there is such difference and contrariety among preachers, they know not what to do nor scarce what to believe.

 My answer is, Do but your own duty, and this trouble is at an end. is there any contrariety in the book of God? 

Pin not your faith upon men's opinions; the Bible is the touchstone. 

That there is such diversity amongst teachers is their fault, who should think all the same thing; but that this is so troublesome to you is your own fault, for neglecting your duty of trying all things by the Word. Alas! you are in a miserable condition, if you have all this while relied on the authority of men in heavenly things."

John Owen

Thems That Got The Capital...

What follows is a fascinating article (both the article and the article it cites) regarding the death penalty and the Christian.

This Christian (as in me) could only support the death penalty if it was equitable...meaning...for instance...a 16 year old kid gets drunk, drives, slams into a car and kills one or more people but he survives; a 25 year old meth addict blows away a clerk in a botched robbery; a 40 year old businessman who has never done anything legally wrong comes home unexpectedly from a business trip, catches his wife in bed with the nextdoor neighbor, grabs a gun and kills one or both...if all three of these individuals are arrested, tried, convicted and fried I could support the death penalty...but the reality is the kid would skate, the meth addict would fry (especially if he was not caucasian) and the businessman would get it pled down to involuntary manslaughter at best...

By the way, the definition of capital punishment behind the walls? "Thems that got the capital don't get the punishment.

Here's a link to the article by people much smarter than I that is worth the read: CLICK HERE

Tune Tuesday - Honor Summer

What's your favorite summer song?

This is one of mine...no one sings it like Adams, but I really like Martina (of the impossible eyes)...though I wonder what her problem is; every time I see her she is dressed...like, fully dressed....not flashing...how does she expect to be a success?


And, here's a version of the original:

Oh Gaggeth a Self Respecting Maggot

Please, Lord, let this program fail...or at least don't let it go national! And may the one non-prosperity preacher get more airtime than the others...


Here is commentary by Denny Burk:

The Oxygen network is about to launch a reality show featuring six prosperity preachers from the Los Angeles area. The trailer above reveals a group of men who are completely under the spell of the prosperity gospel, which is no gospel at all (Gal. 1:6-7).

This is sad on a number of levels. Some of these men are bona fide false teachers, the very kind that the Bible warns us about (2 Pet. 2:1-3). Yet they will be presented to the public as what evangelicals aspire to be. I’m sure many viewers will understand these men to be a distortion of evangelical reality. But there will be many who will not. Unbelievers and skeptics will point to this sham as one more reason to write-off Christianity.

Christians grieve that this false teaching even exists and that it enslaves countless persons across the globe. We should be even more grieved that it will be displayed to an even larger audience—some of whom will buy in to the scam and others who will find in it an occasion to blaspheme (Rom. 2:24).

(HT: Micah Fries)

UPDATE: A commenter below says that at least one of the pastors–Wayne Chaney–is not a prosperity teacher. I looked at Chaney’s website and could not find any evidence of the prosperity gospel there.

A Classic on the Fourth

Red who?

I know that will be the reply of many when I type, "Red Skelton."

A comic from the days of black and white tv and radio...

No idea of his spiritual stance...

No knowledge of his morals...

But this is great:

Flag Rant

The tradition is a few centuries old.

Half-staff (or, on a ship, half-mast).

To honor, remember, reflect on a death.

The death of a warrior.

The death of a famed politician.

The death of other heroes in the line of duty.

An actor?

(Don't crucify me) People, regardless of age, who are murdered?

Lowering (after raising, which is proper) the flag to honor a life should be reserved for those who die in service to their country. Personally, I'm not convinced a politician (regardless of whether I like him/her or not) isn't, well, "worthy," of the honor.

A soldier who dies in battle? Certainly (and primarily)

A law official who is killed in the line-of-duty? Absolutely

Firefighters or other firstresponders who lose their lives in active service? Duh

But not an actor....not those who happen to be in wrong place at wrong time....

Counter rant if you wish....

Tune Tuesday - Don't Roll the Dice if You Can't Pay The Price

The incredible power of choice.

Oh, the brainiacs and the analysts will tell us we are a result of our upbringing (the prison system, for instance, told me my crimes were spawned by my bad attitude toward the US because of my time in Vietnam...in other words, "it's not my fault")...

I guess this is a classic, but heard it for the first time today...truth is truth regardless of where it comes from: