Apologize for what you believe

Some people get offended when Christians tell them what the Bible says about something and they sometimes they demand that we apologize.  When someone responds in this way we should apologize.

Before you get mad at me and accuse me of selling out to the opposition I think you should look at what the word “apology” means.  Here are two definitions from the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

1. an admission of error or discourtesy accompanied by an expression of regret a public apology 

2.  something that is said or written to defend something that other people criticize :The book is an apology for capitalism.

When people demand that Christians apologize they generally have the first definition in mind.  We should never apologize for the truth in this way.  If we do this we are denying Jesus.

Power and corruption

You have probably heard this statement, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  No doubt you can think of examples of people who acquired power and used it in a corrupt manner.  The ones I think of first are Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.  Hitler was responsible for the Holocaust which killed 17 million people, including almost 6 million Jews.  Stalin’s policies resulted in the deaths of millions and after World War II the Soviet Union seized control of many nations in Eastern Europe.  The lives of these two are clear evidence that possession of power leads to corruption and a rejection of traditional standards of right and wrong.

Their lives would be evidence of this except for one fact.  God possesses absolute power.  That means he should be absolutely corrupt, but in fact we see that God is absolutely free of corruption.  That shows that it could not have been the acquisition of power that led Hitler and Stalin to commit the evil they were responsible for.

Joni and Friends

In 1967 Joni Eareckson injured her back diving into shallow water and became a quadriplegic, unable to walk or use her hands.  It would seem that someone in this condition wouldn’t be able to accomplish much, but Joni has experiences a successful life and even heads an organization called Joni and Friends whose goal is to help disabled people to live a normal life and to share the gospel with them.

Joni and Friends

Here is their statement of their purpose:

Fire breathing dragons and bombardier beetles

Most people believe dinosaurs became extinct before any humans existed, but many cultures have legends of creatures called dragons that closely resemble dinosaurs.  This fact indicates that the extinction of dinosaurs must be very recent.  (There are some who believe that there are still living dinosaurs. newanimal.org/ )  Some of these dragon legends speak of dragons that breath fire.  Is it possible that such a creature actually existed?  The best way to answer that question is to look at an animal that we know does exist, the bombardier beetle.  Here is what Wikipedia says about it.

Tips for good writing

Here are some writing tips I have found on the internet.

A solution to the bathroom problem

There is a controversy over whether transgender people should have the option of using either the men’s or the women’s restroom.  One side sees it as giving transgender people the rights others enjoy; the other sees it as a matter of protecting personal privacy.  It isn’t likely this disagreement will ever go away.  Perhaps the best solution would be to eliminate our present restrooms and replace them with single person restrooms.  This would be a very expensive solution, especially when it comes to converting buildings that already have men’s and women’s restrooms, but it seems to me that it is the only way to satisfy the competing demands for access and privacy.

I asked the Lord that I might grow

Have you ever prayed to God for something and found that afterward everything in your life seemed to go wrong?  John Newton apparently experienced this but he realized that the troubles he experienced were in fact God’s way of answering his prayers.  He wrote a hymn called I asked the Lord that I might grow in which he expressed both his frustration and his faith.  Here are the words.

1 I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of his salvation know,
And seek more earnestly his face.

2 ‘Twas he who taught me thus to pray;
And he, I trust, has answered prayer:
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.

An excellent wife

The book of Proverbs ends with a tribute to an excellent  wife.

[10]  An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
[11] The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
[12] She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.

Things I have read on the internet – 13

My latest list of good internet articles.

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The forgotten temple

Anyone who has read the Bible knows about Solomon’s temple and the temple that the Jews built when the Persians allowed them to return to their land.  The second temple was enlarged by King Herod in an attempt to win the loyalty of the Jews and was the one where Jesus worshiped.

Those who have studied Bible prophecy might know about the temple the Jews will build when they reestablish the sacrificial system.  If you have never heard of this temple you can find out about it here:

Is It Time for The Temple?

The Temple in the City of David?

The last part of Ezekiel, beginning at chapter 40, contains a description of the temple that will exist during the Millennium.

But there was one temple that many Bible readers are unaware of.

Things I have read on the internet – 12

My latest list of good internet articles.

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Aliens

Is there intelligent life on other planets?  That is a question people have been asking as long as we have known that there are other planets.  When the telescope was invented astronomers discovered that some of the “stars” we see are actually worlds like our own and this led to speculation about whether or not there were people living on them.  We now know that there is no other life in our solar system but the possibility remains that planets revolving around other stars might have intelligent inhabitants.

Christians are faced with another question.  If humans ever do contact aliens will we have a responsibility to tell them about God and preach the gospel to them?

The heavens declare the glory of God

Romans 1:20 says that God has revealed himself through the things he has made. The more we know about the creation the more we know about God. Psalm 95:4 says,

In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.

If the author of the psalm had known as much about the universe as we do he might have said,

In his hand are the smallest subatomic particles;
the most distant galaxies of the universe are his also.

The prosperity gospel

Many preachers teach what is called the prosperity gospel: God wants his children to be rich and if we serve him faithfully he will make us wealthy.  But most of us know people who live godly lives and yet aren’t financially prosperous.  How do we reconcile these two facts?  Are the “godly” people really hypocrites who are simply covering up their sins by pretending to serve God?  Or are the prosperity teachers wrong?  The best way to answer these questions is to see what the Bible says on the subject.

Tumnus’s bookshelf

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Lucy enters a magic wardrobe and goes through it into the land of Narnia.  There she meets a faun named Tumnus and is invited to his home for tea.  In his house is a shelf filled with books and we are told the names of four of them: Is Man a Myth?, Men, Monks, and Gamekeepers: A Study in Popular Legend, The Life and Letters of Silenus, and Nymphs and Their Ways.  Have you ever wondered what the names of some of the other books might be?  I never have but I found this site, Into the wardrobe , which suggests possible titles and I am listing some of them below.  (If you have never read The Chronicles of Narnia this list won’t make any sense but if you have you will probably enjoy it.)

The prayer that might have been

Jesus once told a parable about a Pharisee and tax collector who went to the temple to pray.  Here is the Pharisee’s prayer.

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”
Luke 18:11-12

The Pharisee wasn’t praying; he was boasting about how good he was.  At the conclusion of the parable Jesus said that his prayer was not accepted and when he left the temple he was not justified.

Should Adam and Eve have eaten the fruit?

God told Adam he could eat the fruit of every tree in the garden of Eden except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Of course everyone knows what happened next.  The serpent persuaded Eve to eat the fruit of the tree; she gave some of the fruit to Adam and he ate it too.  As a result they were expelled from the garden and eventually died, and all of their descendants experience suffering and death.

The theology of Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is famous for his writing in several different fields.  He is well known as an author of horror stories.  He is famous as poet.  He wrote detective stories that have had such an influence that the Mystery Writers of America honors him by calling its award for best mystery writer the Edgar.  But I doubt if anyone associates him with religion or theology.

I recently came across a review he wrote of Incidents Of Travel In Egypt, Arabia Petræa, And The Holy Land by John Lloyd Stephens.  You can read the review here:

http://www.eapoe.org/works/criticsm/wrks4002.htm

In this review he expressed his opinions about Bible prophecy.

Amazing Grace

John Newton’s hymn Amazing Grace is very popular and is found in almost every hymnal that is published.  But did you know that most of them don’t publish all of the song?  Since Newton wrote it many verses have been added by others.  Here are thirteen verses that I found on gospelweb.net.

9/11

On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airliners. Two of the planes were deliberately flown into the two towers of the World Trade Center, causing them to collapse. One was crashed into the Pentagon. The passengers on the fourth plane managed to overpower the hijackers and prevent them from carrying out their intended mission but the plane crashed, killing everyone on board. The total death toll from these events was almost 3,000.

People asked a lot of questions as a result of the attack. Many wanted to know who was responsible and what needed to be done to protect against future attacks. But the question in the minds of a lot of people was “Why did God allow these people to die?”