:A Christian Blog

Sorry for the flood of posts today, but that’s just my writing style. When I have something to write about, I’ll post it, when I don’t, I’m not going to just blog to make things look busy. Anyway, over at Broken Messenger, there is a long post about Joel Osteen’s interview on Larry King Live. The author is a bit rough on Osteen, but nevertheless, he transcribes the interview for you to read and make up your own mind. I was, at times, impressed with Osteen’s answers. He seems to know what it takes to be a medium between non-believing and believing. I invite you to read the interview, then post your comments.

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Just an addendum to the post earlier to today. I found this daily devotional from iEQUIP.com (John Maxwell’s organization) to be particularly fitting also. When looking at a leader like Pat Robertson, you should also question whether they should be followed. The list included in this devotional might be a good starting place.

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Pat Robertson is all over the news again. I don’t ever watch the 700 Club, but it makes me think that Marguerite does (Trading Spouses). MSNBC reported “Conservative Christian televangelist Pat Robertson told citizens of a Pennsylvania town that they had rejected God by voting their school board out of office for supporting “intelligent design” and warned them Thursday not to be surprised if disaster struck.” Now my guess is, this is how these people get publicity. The news doesn’t cover boring, so to get on camera you have to do or say something outrageous, like Marguerite or Pat Robertson. That’s the problem though, I don’t think we should strive to be in the news. If we all did our job as Christians, the news would come to us.

Strangely enough, I think the verse of the day over at BibleGateway.com fits:

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ”- 1 John 2:15-16

You can also read a lot of other comments on this at ThinkChristian.net.

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Did anyone see this program last night? If you didn’t, you really missed Christians being represented in a interesting way. Trading Spouses is a show that takes two families, and the wives swap families for a period of time. The two families, as usual, couldn’t be more different.

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From Fox’s web site:

D’AMICO-FLISHER FAMILY
Jeanne is a specialist in hypnotherapy and uses this valuable tool to help people reconstruct their lives, Chris works with astrology to help clients find their true life’s purpose. Chris believes that astrology provides people with their personal owner’s manual and can aid them in career and relationship decisions. He is also a writer and a mandala artist who has used his experiences in life and loss to guide others through similar challenges.

PERRIN FAMILY
The Perrin family has always been a very close family and the unexpected pregnancy of Ashley brought them some rocky times but it was God and their faith that kept them close as they welcomed the birth of Abigail into the Perrin home. Abigail is now considered the heart of the household. They consider themselves Christians in a sense that they believe in God and they believe that Jesus gave his life for all of us. Marguerite is a firm believer that God loves everyone unconditionally and does not like any alternatives brought into her life or her family’s life.
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The events that unfold when the wives enter the other family’s house are very eye-opening to say the least. One is closed to other people’s ideas and beliefs, the other is open and respects others. One screams and shouts in anger when someone doesn’t believe the same things she does, the other listens intently. One got up and left during a celebration having nothing to do with religion, the other held hands and prayed when the family did. Which one do you think was positive and understanding? Surprisingly, it WASN’T the Christian. Isn’t that odd? Someone that thinks they are following God to the letter, and yet they represent God by acting like that.

Let me ask you a question. Who do you think we’re supposed to witness to?

Matthew9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?”

12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Luke 7:33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ‘ 35But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

Now, I know that you read the Bible and read about those nasty Scribes and Pharisees. The law mattered more to them than loving and giving to others.

Luke 11:37 Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table.

38When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.

39But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.

40″You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?

41″But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.

42″But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Have we turned into the Scribes and the Pharisees of the 21st century? It seems to me that when I see a Christian on television, it’s always about no. It’s always about what they can’t do, instead of what they can do. Have we forgotten that we follow the living God?

The episode will conclude next Wednesday at 8 CST. Watch today’s church-going Christian fight the battle of good and evil for all of us…by shutting the doors on her home to all who don’t believe like she does. I’ll leave with the same verses I referenced earlier in the week, because I just don’t think anyone has read this part of the Bible.

Luke 14:12 And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

13″But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

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This will most likely be a weekly part of this blog where I, oddly enough, ask you to go elsewhere to read other’s opinions about differing subjects. If a good post is made somewhere, I definitely want to recognize it.

So much more than a bowl of candy

The World is not Enough

If it looks like a duck

All of these deal with materialism, something that’s been on my mind lately. Why give my views on it though, when I can give you three? Feel free to read these articles, you can post comments here or on the author’s site. Also feel free to post your own articles on this subject or your ways of rejecting materialism in exchange for faith in God. It’s something that everyone wants to talk about, but few act upon it.

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Luke 14:7And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

8″When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,

9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place.

10″But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you.

11″For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

13″But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

14and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

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A couple of days ago, someone searched for that that very question in a search engine and clicked on my site. It almost seems strange that a Christian would be asking this question, but in these times, where a lot of people claim to be Christian, so many in fact that I think the line has been blurred, it’s not that surprising. Of course, I didn’t have an answer for him at that time, but I hope to accomplish that with this post.

John 3:16″For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

17″For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

18″He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

So, there’s the answer. You must believe in God. I don’t see any rules or regulations to follow, the Bible is clear, whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. If you just can’t grasp the fact that it is that simple, then I encourage you to follow the two greatest commandments in addition to this, which is almost just as simple detailed in my 30-second Bible for Christians.

I’d also invite any of my readers to add their responses for anyone asking themselves this very question.

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If you want happiness for an hour – take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day – go fishing.
If you want happiness for a month – get married.
If you want happiness for a year – inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime – help someone else.

–Chinese Proverb

At the risk of sounding like I’m a paid blogger for John Maxwell, I’d like to again return to one of his books previously mentioned, 25 Ways to Win with People. Specifically, one of the ways in the book, “Be the First to Help”. I found this after going through the book to do research for Invest and Invite and immediately knew I had to blog on it. It’s something I struggle with on a daily basis. I seem to be so attuned to my personal needs or focused on the task at hand that I will forget to do something as simple as offering someone something to drink. The author breaks it down into four simple points to be successful at being the first to help that I will comment on.

Make Helping Others a Priority. The first point in the book is the strongest for me personally. I need to have a notepad that has this point stamped at the top of every page so that I remember this on a daily basis.

Make Yourself Aware of People’s Needs. This is something that I really think comes natural to everyone. At some point in their lives though, they put this natural ability into the back of their head and forget it. If you make helping others a priority, I don’t think this point will be a challenge.

Be Willing to Take a Risk. The book makes the point that sometimes helping others may actually hurt you, such as helping someone in a competition in which you are a competitor. This is, in my opinion, one of the best situations to help someone, because it really shows them you aren’t helping to gain anything.

Follow Through Once You Begin to Help. Of course, to counter the last point, not following through once you begin or promise to help is one of the worst ways you can help someone. They think less of you, and everything you represent. The goal, of course, is to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

I really like this book because not only does it break Winning with People down into 25 different ways, it also sums everything up at the end of every chapter. An excellent book to use as a resource later down the road.

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Many of the Christian blogs I frequent has posts about the new 100-Minute Bible that has been released in the UK. “Proponents say it is a gateway to the classic, a crash course in Christianity that will provide a useful tool to reach out to the curious, the lapsed, and the ignorant.”

I’d like to submit my own version of the Bible called the 30-second Bible. This one is completely endorsed by Jesus and ready to hit the shelves as soon as I get a publisher. What’s in it you say?

Mark 12:28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

32″Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Jesus broke it down into really simple terms, probably for days like these where there are many many things that aren’t covered in the Bible. Many Christians spend weeks upon weeks debating on things like abortion, stem cell research, and whether the newest TV preacher is actually the anti-Christ. I just find it really strange that loving your neighbor as yourself seems to be the one most forgotten. We mock, criticize, and sometimes pity our neighbor, but neglect to do one of the two greatest commandments that Jesus set forth to all Christians. Love your neighbor as yourself.

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This post is filled with questions in my head surrounding talk about the new Supreme Court Justice nominee, Harriet Miers. Everyone wants to know how she will vote on this issue or that issue. James Dobson has even graciously assured us that Harriet Miers is a good candidate for the Supreme Court. Which in turn, has got him in some hot water with everyone else. That fallout caused Dobson to come back to the issue today and say this. Whew! Anyone else seeing more focus on the Supreme Court than the family here?

Question: Why don’t Christians start concentrating less on making abortion illegal and more on encouraging mothers to keep their babies so that even if it’s legal, they won’t want to do it? This all comes back to outreach in the church. The majority of mothers (I dare say all) don’t want to abort their babies, but they don’t feel like they can support them. If less basketball courts were built, and more permanent shelters for the poor were built, maybe more of them would keep their babies knowing they are going to be taken care of.

Am I wrong to think that all of this attention given to Harriet Miers by James Dobson and others is just missing the point? Have we become so small of an influence on society that we think we need the help of a law to prevent/discourage people from doing something we feel is wrong? Maybe we should lobby for judges that would require everyone to go to church, prevent them from smoking, and ban alcohol. Is that the best way to spread the gospel in the 21st century?

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