Irrefutable Apologetics

Humans couldn't possibly have invented the Bible story, it's too dumb...

Dr. Gordon Fee

They didn't teach me this approach in Bible College, but I will call it the argument from Idiocy. People couldn't have thought up something so insane as Creator dying in the place of creation, it's just nuts. A god invented would certainly be more sensible about things.

Poem of the day

The sovereign Lord of the earth and sky
Puts camels through a needle’s eye.
And if his wisdom see it mete,
He will put worlds inside a tweet.

John Piper

Read the background behind this poem here.

Shutup and Bootup

Having recently achieved total marital bliss, I have decided to share one of secrets of my success:

It's a little thing I like to call "The Daily Download"- I walk in the door at days end, and at the first free moment (usually hours later), I let my wife "download" the day to me. I hear about discipline issues, shoolwork, van tire pressure, the weather, the bills. Then there's the world news, church, extended family, skin rashes and the snake that lives in our kitchen wall. Yeah, I think the snake thing's cool, too...

Bottom line, dudes, we must listen to our wives, and be genuinely concerned about their world. Mine washes my clothes, cleans the house, teaches my children and puts up with me every day. But most of all, my interaction with her mirrors Christ and his chosen Lady, and in the analogy, I play the role of Christ.

He didn't clutch onto Godhood, but died at the hands of His creation to redeem it. So to me, it's a small thing to let her spill verbally. It's just one small way I can love her as myself.

Just try it. Give her ten minutes of real, true, hard listening, and watch her reaction.

And above all else...

There are a lot of things I consider important for me to do. Work, love my wife and kids, be honest, be on time, blog...

But in my teaching through I Peter, I've come across some funny language. With more commands per verse than any other biblical book, I Peter has a lot to say, but I was struck recently by this:

"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly", and I can't overlook the qualifier- "since love covers a multitude of sins".

It made me think that there must be a multitude of sins to be covered, or the qualifier wouldn't make sense. And isn't it true, even among the Bride of Christ?

But you say, "You just don't know, this guy is an idiot!" Yeah, you're probably right. Just remember that you're an idiot too.

Look to the Cross and you can forgive any idiot. He who has been forgiven much, can forgive much. This is Kingdom life, a bunch of idiots having to constantly forgive other idiots because they have been forgiven the ultimate idiocy. If you can't forgive and let love cover, you're out of touch with the covering of your own sin. Focus on Christ and what He did for you, who He is, and how much you deserved a royal buttkicking.

Just take a few minutes to think about that, then go and lay down your life for your brother, even if he's stinker.

Hermeneutical Criticism

Here's one way to predict someone may be getting ready to misrepresent the Scriptures:

Any time they try to make a point using only the "b" part of a verse.

Fire or Stones? What say ye?

I've tried to hold myself back for days now, but my will has succumb to my inner smartass. Don't worry, if there is anyone out there actually waiting for the next Pan's Labyrinth post, it's simmering, and will be ready at the appointed time.

I read THIS the other day, and couldn't help be a tad skeptical, especially at the exhortation to stock up on non-perishable items. Just imagining God saying "Buy canned goods, beans, and don't forget deodorant and toilet paper." just doesn't jive with me. Although the thought of living without good toilet paper is enough to make me tremble...

As funny I think this stuff can be, there is a seriousness here that I can't avoid. I, on the one hand, could be making fun of something I shouldn't. The other, and far more likely one to my mind, is that 25 years will go by, and this message will be forgotten. The question is, when will there be accountability? I think this is a fair question given the cornucopia of predictions given by Christian leaders in the past fifty years. They used to stone folks who prophesied falsely, but we just keep buying the books.

My final opinion? Listen to it, Christian, test it with past INSPIRED prophecies, and if it doesn't come true, at least stop giving these guys a platform. Don't worry too much about the future, it's already been sealed. If we escape bad times, then super, if we burn, then to God be the glory and may we die not marring our Lord's name. Realize that all our needs have been met in Christ, and when He appears, we will appear with Him in glory. Stop being scared and start living like your life is hidden with Christ in God.

As a safety measure, here is a response by someone far more reputable and measured than myself:

Here ya go

On a more positive note, it could always be worse.

Elephant Cartography

"Are all the religons of the world like the blind men describing the elephant, each one sensing only part of the elephant, but no one sees the whole truth? Or are all religons like the road to the top of the mountain, taking different paths, but everyone reaching the same summit? The only way you could say all the the religions of the world are like blind men only seeing part of the elephant is if you assume you can the whole elephant. There's no way to say all the religons of the world can only see part of the truth is if you can see the whole truth..."

Tim Keller, quoting somebody else quoting somebody else

Dou you believe in Magic?

"All the terms used in the science books, "law,"
"necessity," "order," "tendency," and so on, are really unintellectual,
because they assume an inner synthesis, which we do not possess.
The only words that ever satisfied me as describing Nature are the
terms used in the fairy books, "charm," "spell," "enchantment."
They express the arbitrariness of the fact and its mystery.
A tree grows fruit because it is a MAGIC tree. Water runs downhill
because it is bewitched. The sun shines because it is bewitched.

All the towering materialism which dominates the modern mind
rests ultimately upon one assumption; a false assumption. It is
supposed that if a thing goes on repeating itself it is probably dead;
a piece of clockwork. People feel that if the universe was personal
it would vary; if the sun were alive it would dance."

G.K. Chesterton

So which one is it? Clock or magic tree?

thank you: Magic tree

What fools we are...

"Can't you see what fools we are? We preach a man-made, plastic gospel. We get people to come forward to `the altar' by bringing psychological pressures that have nothing to do with God. We `lead them' in a prayer that they are not yet convinced they need to say. And then to top it all off, we give them `counseling,' telling them it is a sin to doubt that they're really saved!"
- Keith Green

Another bad day, or a good for that matter??

Check this out then

Praise God for the glorious Gospel of Christ, for in I find At-One-Ment, and the strange ability to feel both aweful and wonderful at the same time.

Aweful in myself, that I come up short every second. Wonderful to the degree that I feel aweful, in that Christ loved me and died for me anyway.

How can I have a bad day after this?

Parental advice

Excerpt from "How Not to Raise a Pagan"

“One of the reasons we are raising a generation of pagans in our midst, is that we are faithful as parents to talk about God, but the God we talk about is not the God of the Bible. Many Children growing up in Christian homes simply don’t know the God of the Bible. They know the god of popular culture, the god of popular piety, they know the user-friendly god of Amercian consumerism; they know the god who doesn’t require much of them; the god who is kindly and sweet and remote; the god who is like an indulgent grandparent; the god who doesn’t take sin too seriously; the god who doesn’t take his people’s allegience too seriously; the god who fits in the gaps where necessary; the god who shows up at a blessing at a meal — hurried and rushed to get to the main purpose of the meal; the god who shows up at a crisis and someone remembers him and speaks of him. There is no wonder, when we think about it, that we are raising pagans, because the god they have come to know in many Christian homes simply isn’t the God of the Bible. He is himself an idol.”

“Too many of our children are innoculated with this false and artificial understanding of God, because they think of God’s Word as something like a greeting card….Do your children know that God kills people?”

-Al Mohler

You can catch the rest of it here.

Need I say more? Nope.

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In God We Do Not Trust



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Me @ 33

Yesterday I turned thirty-three years of age. What's that mean?

More than even I know, most likely. But there are a few things that are for certain.

It means I am fatter than ever, balder than ever, crustier than ever, my teeth are crookeder (yeah, I know) than ever. I have wrinkles and the makings of man-boobs.

My body aches more in the morning, and is stiffer in the evening. Right now my back is killing me from hard labor all day, and that familiar icepick in my middle back has come home to roost again.

I know more than I ever have, but I know that there is more to know than ever, so it's really just knowledge of how much little I really know. Yeah, that was hard to even write.

Every day the weight of my own failings confronts me. I am impatient with my kids, think myself smarter than my wife and ignore those around me. I speak too fast and shutup too slow.

I find it increasingly difficult to spend so much of my day trying to make money, but yet not focus unduly on it.

The allure of success and sex that pervades our society smells worse than any time in my life, but it does still temp.

And it is more than ever that I feel a longing for home, to be with my Lord. He's the One who knew ahead of time all those things I've just mentioned, and that I will wake tomorrow and struggle with them again tomorrow, and yet, He still bought me. That's a circuit-breaking thought. Go ahead and take a minute to trip it back...






Before I ever looked at one sexy commercial, thought one mean thought, coveted one ability, Jesus Christ had already planned to buy me. But the amazing thing is that I'm even covered for tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day... POP, there it goes again...




Maybe it takes a wrenching away of abilities and achievements to make us realize where true treasure is. Maybe, just maybe some of that wrenching comes with age.

So tomorrow, I will rise slowly, try to make my right shoulder work right, crack my neck, stretch my legs and ride around trying to make the money that I don't want to be mastered by.

By God's grace I will be mastered less by that money, fret less about those pains and the world will be a little more tasteless to my palette, because I know that this brutal, sorrowful, embattled day I live will bring me one step closer to REAL LIFE.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Oh, that's good...

What's it gonna be like for you on the day after Kevin's birthday?

Rescue me from the lies of advertisers who claim to know what I need and what I desire

From the lies of entertainers who promise a cheap way to joy

From the lies of politicians who pretend to instruct me in power and morality

From the lies of psychologists who offer to shape my behavior and my morals so that I will live long happily and successfully

From the lies of religionists who heal the wounds of this people lightly

From the lies of moralists who pretend to promote me to the office of captain of my fate

From the lies of pastors who get rid of God’s command so you won’t be inconvenienced in following religious fashions

Rescue me from the person who tells me of life and omits Christ

Who is wise in the ways of the world and ignores the movement of the Spirit

-Eugene Peterson

Gud Preachin'

Being a carpenter who largely works alone, I have plenty of time to listen to whatever I want, and think about whatever I want. Well, I've been listening to a stockpile of sermons by this guy for a while now.

I am right now listening to a series called "The Family in Perspective" by him. What he says is excellent and absolutely unsaid, in my experience. So, I think it's time for a post about it.

I don't know who, but somebody has said that "in every generation, the Church is to some measure a reflection of the culture in which it lives".

My theory on culture and theology is that in every generation the church must look at itself in society, notice the over and under-emphasized, and correct accordingly. Also, like a bent coathanger, whatever is out of form must be corrected to a greater degree or the abnormality will continue to exist. The problem is, most aren't looking for the bend, and almost no one corrects accordingly. We walk away from the mirror unchanged in relation to the family.

Well, hopefully I have some sense, and perked your interest enough that you will go to the extreme of clicking here, then listen with your brain, and allow room for something either refreshing or offensive. Either way, may God use it for His glory and your sanctification, eh?

Listen, think, study the Word on it, and then give glory to God for the grace given to the likes of Arturio Azurdia III.

PS- Once you finish the link to the first sermon, you will have to go here, where you can scroll down to the very bottom to find the other three in the series.

Food for Thought, and a question to chew on

Back in "the good ole' days" when I was growing up, we had three channels on tv (PBS being the best one), no vcr, cable, pc, cell phone, internet, and really very little that plugged in at all. My parents are still boring (sorry guys, but you are, if this miraculously makes its way into your hands).

Now I have all those things, and more...

My oldest takes drama, just finished t-ball, and is thinking about soccer. She's not even six yet, and there would be more to do if the other two weren't deathly afraid of everyone else on the planet. I run my own business, teach a class at church and I'm on our condo board as well.

So here's the question:

Where does all the Blogtime come from?

Did they add an hour to the day since I was a kid? Has technology made me that much faster, that I have an extra hour that my parents didn't have?

WWMPBD- What would my parents being doing? Actually, at 9:47 pm, my dad would still be working, and I still have no idea what my mother did at night...


We are busier than we have ever been, and yet this hobby seems to be enjoyed by so many, and curiosity being my defining characteristic, it do make me wonder...

Is everybody out there a scheduling genuis who blogs for theraputic benefits, or are you like me, who should be polishing my lesson on parables for church on Sunday, but who can't seem to organize their thoughts, so blogging is easier????

Hannah Claire Smith, app. age- 1.5 months, now 4 years

my daughter, in my hand

the owner of the brightest eyes I have ever seen

"Protection of the life of the mother as an excuse for an abortion is a smoke screen. In my 36 years of pediatric surgery, I have never known of one instance where the child had to be aborted to save the mother's life. If toward the end of the pregnancy complications arise that threaten the mother's health, the doctor will induce labor or perform a Caesarean section. His intention is to save the life of both the mother and the baby. The baby's life is never willfully destroyed because the mother's life is in danger."
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C. Everett Koop, M.D., former U.S. Surgeon General

Folks, don't buy the lie, not for a minute.

Suffer the little children... and suffer me to be one

So, Nora prayed a blessing for the food this morning, and I thought it was so adorable that I want to reproduce it as best I can.

"Tank u fah mommy to be a pincess, an tank u fah daddy to be a hoshy (horsey), an tank u fah emma to be shnow white, an tank u fah Hannah to be shnow white (Hannah grins wildly), an tank u fah me to be shnow white, an tank u fah mommy, an tank u fah daddy, an tank u fah da food, amen."

A few weeks ago she would have certainly included "and tank u fah santa to come to town...", but I guess that season is over, and she knows it.

These requests came out a pure and sincere heart, silly as they may be, and I don't doubt God smiles when a little one prays. Besides, when it come to God, are we as adults any more adequate than my little Nora? Are some of my requests any sillier than hers in His eyes?

Thank God for a righteousness that is not my own, one that doesn't expect me to be perfect and depends on Christ and not me! I come to Him, depending on Him for EVERYTHING, completely trusting and to use noraspeak- "tank u fah me to be mah like you, to lean on you mah, an tank you fah little guls who point their Daddy to Jesus".