There are and will continue to be many articles, poems, television shows, movies, sermons and now days blogs, about Christmas. Some will be good, some inspiring, some boring and others maddening. Jehovah’s Witnesses will again insist that this is a pagan celebration and a few Christians will agree. For a vast segment of the population the true meaning of the season will be lost amidst the hub bub of buying presents and celebrating. In a brief 3 ½ minutes or so It’s About the Cross – Christmas Music Video lays out simply and clearly what Christmas is really about:

Its about the cross. Its about my sin. Its about how Jesus came to be born once so that we could be born again. Its about the stone that was rolled away so that you and I could have a life someday.

Like so many holy days (now holidays) (more…)

I love the show called “Mythbusters.” When ever I’m at a friend’s house that has cable (I refuse to pay 40$ for 40 channels I don’t use) I am inexorably drawn to this show where the hosts test myths to see if they have any basis in fact. Can an eel skin wallet erase your credit cards (busted) Can cola get out blood stains? (confirmed) Does punching a shark in the nose make it back off (plausible). Last week’s show was dedicated to testing the myths of ninjas. Is it possible to catch a sword with your bare hands? Can ninjas walk on water? I am so hoping there will be a show dedicated to the Myths of Chuck Norris next. That (Walker Texas Ranger guy seems to fight six guys at once and seem to just walk into his foot or fist . . . but Chuck if you are reading this, you are the man!)

All of this mythbusting got me thinking about some of the myths that grow up around modern Christianity. Kathleen Parker, the suddenly popular chief coroner of the republican morgue, wrote a series of columns that serve as an election post-mortem. In one column she blames the downfall of republicanism partially on the ” the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP.” I wasn’t sure what the oogedy-boogedy was doing in that sentence, and apparently I wasn’t alone. I could say “much ink spilled” defining “oogedy-boogedy” but this is the blogosphere so what is the analog? Many electrons were pushed? Much ram was expended defining oogedy boogedy. So much that Parker felt the need to elaborate in another column titled “God Isn’t hurting the GOP, His Fan Club Is” Now these two iconoclastic warning shots over the evangelical right’s bow I will deal with in my next post. For now I just want to deal with her conception of “oogedy boogedy” Here’s her clarification: “If Jim and Tammy Faye put you in mind of oogedy-boogedy, you’re getting warm.” (more…)

Some of our readers and many of our supporters are aware that Joy and I have started over-the-road-trucking in order to support ourselves and the ministry. As I type this we begin the first day of our second week with Covenant Transport. One of the reasons we chose this way of tent-making is that with modern technology we can carry on nearly all aspects of the ministry, at least all of the really important ones from the road. While driving and working with the trainer on our last trip I was thinking about this week’s blog and news stories like Catholic Abbot Says Disney Indoctrinates Kids , Words associated with Christianity and British history taken out of children’s dictionary and the faith. In the first story the Catholic Abbot is concerned that Disney has become a faith in competition with the Christian faith. In the second story British academics and headmasters are concerned that the removal of words associated with Christianity and the monarch by the Oxford University Press Junior Dictionary will result in disconnecting England from its past. A past that at one time included a vibrant church with a strong missions focus. It seems to me that in many ways the problem is truth-in-advertising. By that I mean the Christian faith has been under attack since its inception. More than that, the faith has been under attack since the Garden of Eden when Eve heard those famous words, “Has God really said …?”

Trucking has in some ways been a reminder to me of my early days as a believer. While Joy and I were in trucking school the first few days were spent telling us all of the ways we can kill ourselves and others with this vehicle that weighs 80,000 pounds or to put it another way, approximately 36 tons on wheels hurtling down the street directed by someone who just got their Commercial Drivers License (CDL). Now that should be a sobering thought. Each day we would go home and ask ourselves, “Do we want to do this? There is great risk and high cost for failure.” As schooling progressed we became focused on other things, like cornering without tipping over the trailer, backing up without running over a car, maintaining our composure when a car cuts in front of us or passes in a no passing zone so they don’t have to get stuck behind a truck. We soon came to understand that the average driver has no clue what imminent danger they are in when they engage in each of the maneuvers and challenges to get somewhere 5 minutes faster. The great risk and danger to ourselves and others was ever present with each new thing we learned.

Upon graduation we started with our finishing trainer at Covenant Transport. Since we began (more…)

But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

Many conservative voices are raising concerns that liberal politicians will be making a move to silence conservative talk radio and television. It is argued that this will happen by Congress making the Fairness Doctrine law. It is argued that main stream media or as Rush Limbaugh calls it, the “drive by media” will then have a strangle hold on information and will filter it through a liberal grid. They will not allow conservative response but if a radio or television station dares to have a conservative voice a point of view that conflicts with liberal ideology, liberals will demand “equal time.” Stations won’t want the hassle or expense and this will effectively silence any dissent and eliminate free speech. There seems to be some merit to this since Senators like Chuck Schumer compares Fairness Doctrine to regulating porn. He suggests that we (conservatives) would not want pornography allowed to run unregulated on television or radio and so why shouldn’t conservative ideas be regulated as well.

The ACLJ calls The so-called “Fairness Doctrine” — Extremely Dangerous Legislation Some religious broadcasters are concerned about this as are some pastors. If this happens over the air waves why not in conservative publications and even churches? It is an interesting question and is also a possibility. I am not one to succumb to conspiracy theories (more…)