Watched my first Doctor Who episode in about 8 years. The last time I saw one I was still living in Phoenix.
The episode was entitled Robot, and was the first Tom Baker episode. I remember beating a path back home after church on Sundays so we could catch the episodes on PBS. I still can't hear the channel chimes of KAET without my brain automatically starting to run the Dr. Who theme right after it.
There are several Dr. Who episodes available for instant play from Netflix, if your internet is fast enough. Mine isn't.
But I'm thankful for that, because this DVD also has extras on it, including an interview with all the main folks involved with creating that first episode of the Tom Baker incarnation, including Elisabeth Sladen and even Tom Baker himself. What a treat!
It almost makes up for the family being away. Almost.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Never, Never, Never Give Up
This past Sunday, our pastor covered the "parable of the soils" found in Luke 8. Out of this, I came away with three reasons why we shouldn't give up on evangelizing people.
1) The sower's job is to sow the seed indiscriminately.
Our pastor told us that parables almost always have something included that is a surprise. It is that element of surprise that we need to pay close attention to, because it is usually central to the parable.
In the case of this parable, the surprise element is that the sower is not picky at all where he sows the seed. He scatters seed on all four of the different soils.
You don't have to be a farmer to know this is odd. Anyone who has every planted a garden or some flowers knows that good soil is the key to growth. I doubt anyone would consider trying to plant a tree in the middle of their driveway, a rose garden on their front porch, or their cherry tomatoes on the sidewalk. Instead, you are going to put these plants in the ground where they will grow.
So this picture may seem a little odd to us at first, even though we can clearly see and acknowledge that it is true. From the picture of this parable, as well as other places in Scripture, it's clear that we are commanded to preach the gospel to everyone. The next two points clarify the first.
2) We must sow the seed this way, because we can't know what kind of soil we are sowing on.
The sower isn't digging furrows, he's casting seed out. If you've ever spread grass seed, then you know that some of it will end up on the driveway, some in the street, some in that one dead spot that seems to kill everything, and some in the yard. The sower doesn't really know where an individual seed goes, and he doesn't care. He won't even know whether some ground is too rocky, too thorny, or just right, because most likely he will be gone by the time that seed actually starts to grow.
For all these reasons, there is no way to know what kind of soil a person is, so we must focus on simply sharing the gospel.
3) God ultimately determines who is saved.
If we were to look at the Apostle Paul (or rather Saul the Pharisee), most likely we would have judged him as the wrong kind of person. The same with many other followers of God throughout the Bible. Ultimately, we are all just dirt trodden down into the hard path that nothing will penetrate. It is God who ultimately turns that hard dirt into soil that is able to grow things. It is God through His Word that turns a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
So it is up to us, as faithful followers, to go out and spread the seed of the gospel to everyone we meet, regardless of the likelihood of their conversion, trusting God that He will till the soil, and cultivate the life that Peter describes as being "born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, thought the living and abiding word of God."
1) The sower's job is to sow the seed indiscriminately.
Our pastor told us that parables almost always have something included that is a surprise. It is that element of surprise that we need to pay close attention to, because it is usually central to the parable.
In the case of this parable, the surprise element is that the sower is not picky at all where he sows the seed. He scatters seed on all four of the different soils.
You don't have to be a farmer to know this is odd. Anyone who has every planted a garden or some flowers knows that good soil is the key to growth. I doubt anyone would consider trying to plant a tree in the middle of their driveway, a rose garden on their front porch, or their cherry tomatoes on the sidewalk. Instead, you are going to put these plants in the ground where they will grow.
So this picture may seem a little odd to us at first, even though we can clearly see and acknowledge that it is true. From the picture of this parable, as well as other places in Scripture, it's clear that we are commanded to preach the gospel to everyone. The next two points clarify the first.
2) We must sow the seed this way, because we can't know what kind of soil we are sowing on.
The sower isn't digging furrows, he's casting seed out. If you've ever spread grass seed, then you know that some of it will end up on the driveway, some in the street, some in that one dead spot that seems to kill everything, and some in the yard. The sower doesn't really know where an individual seed goes, and he doesn't care. He won't even know whether some ground is too rocky, too thorny, or just right, because most likely he will be gone by the time that seed actually starts to grow.
For all these reasons, there is no way to know what kind of soil a person is, so we must focus on simply sharing the gospel.
3) God ultimately determines who is saved.
If we were to look at the Apostle Paul (or rather Saul the Pharisee), most likely we would have judged him as the wrong kind of person. The same with many other followers of God throughout the Bible. Ultimately, we are all just dirt trodden down into the hard path that nothing will penetrate. It is God who ultimately turns that hard dirt into soil that is able to grow things. It is God through His Word that turns a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
So it is up to us, as faithful followers, to go out and spread the seed of the gospel to everyone we meet, regardless of the likelihood of their conversion, trusting God that He will till the soil, and cultivate the life that Peter describes as being "born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, thought the living and abiding word of God."
Monday, May 12, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
MojoPac
These guys are advertising the ability to take your entire desktop (including applications) with you on a thumbdrive. If it operates as advertised, that would be huge.
Anyone know anything about it?
Anyone know anything about it?
Saturday, May 03, 2008
The One Thing Necessary for the Christian Life
One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ, as Christ says in John 11[:25],"I am the Resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live"; and in John 8[:36],"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed"; and in Matt. 4[:4],"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Let us then consider it certain and firmly established that the soul can do without anything except the Word of God and that where the Word of God is missing there is no help at all for the soul. If it has the Word of God it is rich and lacks nothing since it is the Word of life, truth, light, peace, righteousness, salvation, joy, liberty, wisdom, power, grace, glory, and of every incalculable blessing. This is why the prophet in the entire Psalm [119] and in many other places yearns and sighs for the Word of God and uses so many names to describe it.
Martin Luther, Here I Stand
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Christian History - Historic Christian Opposition to Abortion
In about 177 AD, Christian philosopher Athenagoras defends Christianity from three serious charges: atheism, immorality (specifically incest), and cannibalism. His defense, in the form of a letter written to the emperor, is probably best characterized as more philosophical than biblical, but still it stands as a serious defense to the charges of the time.
In this short excerpt, Athenagoras defends Christians from the "tall stories" being told about them by pointing out the how inconsistent it would be to be murderers and yet be unwilling to watch the bloody gladatorial games of the time, and how nonsensical it would be to oppose abortion, only to kill the child once out of the womb.
This excerpt is taken from Christian Classics Ethereal, and the full letter can be found here).
Since this is our character, what man of sound judgment would say that we are murderers? For you cannot eat human flesh until you have killed someone. If their first charge against us is a fiction, so is the second. For if anyone were to ask them if they had seen what they affirm, none of them would be so shameless as to say he had.
Moreover, we have slaves: some of us more, some fewer. We cannot hide anything from them; yet not one of them has made up such tall stories against us. Since they know that we cannot endure to see a man being put to death even justly, who of them would charge us with murder or cannibalism? Who among our accusers is not eager to witness contests of gladiators and wild beasts, especially those organized by you? But we see little difference between watching a man being put to death and killing him. So we have given up such spectacles. How can we commit murder when we will not look at it, lest we should contract the stain of guilt? What reason would we have to commit murder when we say that women who induce abortions are murderers, and will have to give account of it to God? For the same person would not regard the fetus in the womb as a living thing and therefore an object of God's care, and at the same time slay it, once it had come to life. Nor would he refuse to expose infants, on the ground that those who expose them are murderers of children, and at the same time do away with the child he has reared. But we are altogether consistent in our conduct. We obey reason and do not override it.
In this short excerpt, Athenagoras defends Christians from the "tall stories" being told about them by pointing out the how inconsistent it would be to be murderers and yet be unwilling to watch the bloody gladatorial games of the time, and how nonsensical it would be to oppose abortion, only to kill the child once out of the womb.
This excerpt is taken from Christian Classics Ethereal, and the full letter can be found here).
Since this is our character, what man of sound judgment would say that we are murderers? For you cannot eat human flesh until you have killed someone. If their first charge against us is a fiction, so is the second. For if anyone were to ask them if they had seen what they affirm, none of them would be so shameless as to say he had.
Moreover, we have slaves: some of us more, some fewer. We cannot hide anything from them; yet not one of them has made up such tall stories against us. Since they know that we cannot endure to see a man being put to death even justly, who of them would charge us with murder or cannibalism? Who among our accusers is not eager to witness contests of gladiators and wild beasts, especially those organized by you? But we see little difference between watching a man being put to death and killing him. So we have given up such spectacles. How can we commit murder when we will not look at it, lest we should contract the stain of guilt? What reason would we have to commit murder when we say that women who induce abortions are murderers, and will have to give account of it to God? For the same person would not regard the fetus in the womb as a living thing and therefore an object of God's care, and at the same time slay it, once it had come to life. Nor would he refuse to expose infants, on the ground that those who expose them are murderers of children, and at the same time do away with the child he has reared. But we are altogether consistent in our conduct. We obey reason and do not override it.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
The Real Red Letter Bible
The words of Jesus are throughout the Bible, written not in red ink, but in the blood of the Savior.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Hard Questions
I was asked these questions by an atheist. Any input would be appreciated, as I'm still trying to synthesize my own thoughts on the subject.
Can an Alzheimer sufferer remember who Jesus was/is? If not, why would God want this? What if someone loses the brain capacity to believe and follow Jesus/God? Do they go to Hell?
Can an Alzheimer sufferer remember who Jesus was/is? If not, why would God want this? What if someone loses the brain capacity to believe and follow Jesus/God? Do they go to Hell?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)