Fear and Trembling

This is a test to see if I can post with my new iPhone (Note: This phone is highly addictive.).

The quotes below are from Dalia Mogahed in an interview with Warren Larson (“Islam According to Gallup: Analyst Dalia Mogahed says it's time to rethink what we think we know about Muslims.” posted 11/14/2008 09:04AM at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/november/26.38.html?start=1 ). Dalia Mogahed is a “senior analyst and executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies,” and her comments are based on a standard scientific survey that covered “90 percent of the global Muslim population.” How do you respond to conventional wisdom that says the Qur'an espouses violence? First, [violent] verses have a historical context and must be understood and interpreted in a specific way. Second, if the Qur'an espouses violence, then we should have a greater percentage of Muslims involved in violence. Violence is usually politically, not religiously, motivated. Third, terrorist sympathizers or the "cheering section"—the 7 percent who are politically radicalized—...

Two men start to walk across a 300 foot bridge that spans a mile deep chasm. One man walks confidently and makes consistent progress while the other steps catiously and nervously, starting and stopping along the way. Which of the two reach the other side? Both. The integrity of the bridge remains the same for both men and is the only reason for there successful crossing. There is only One Bridge with the eternal and redemptive integrity that will carry a sinner into God's presence. His name is Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the Living God. - Rick Frueh , a comment on Camp On This

The wonder of Christmas has overwhelmed me again. I am taking a week or so off from blogging to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s with my family. I wanted to leave you with these links: Martin Luther on Christmas Ligonier post on Christmas - note free resources Stand to Reason on Christmas in history May your Christmas be filled with hope and your New Years filled with joy!

It is interesting to see the fire-storm of rhetoric that has ensued over Obama’s pick of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. Please see the well written posts by Al Mohler and Ben Witherington . It is ironic because I have lone admired Warren for one thing, despite the many theological differences we have. Warren has steered away from politics in his pulpit, and he has urged other pastors to do the same through his Purpose Driven Church Conferences. He now finds himself in politics up to his neck after hosting the presidential debate in his political forum. (Note the lack of political posturing here and the article here .) Some comments on the separation of church and state. I am for it. So are many Baptists throughout history. Warren has positively influenced me to keep out of politics on this blog except where matters of ethics are involved. I am for letting any candidate and / or elected public official pick whichever religious leader he / she wishes to ...

“What is the greater miracle: the raising of the dead man in Lazarus, or the mere existence of the man who died and of the witnesses who swore to his revival?” - William F. Buckley, Jr.

R. C. Sproul does a good job of explaining what we can know about the origin of sin in “The Mystery of Iniquity” over at Ligonier’s blog. I’ve tried to tackle the issue here and here , but R. C. does a more professional job.

I have been reading The Shack by Wm. Paul You ng over the last few weeks. Evidentially, I am not alone in this . While I do find much of the book to be somewhat helpful when read very carefully, I cannot help but express some concerns with its theological underpinnings. I am going to leave some of the issues it raises regarding the trinity, theology proper, the incarnation, Christ’s exclusivity, and special revelation to those more able. (See Norman Geisler here .) I want to focus on the way the book expresses the atonement (what Christ did in His life and death to secure salvation for us). On pages 95 and 96, we are told that God the Father has “scars in her wrists” just like Jesus does. The character that represents God the Father says that Christ did at the cross “…cost us dearly.” In this book’s scheme, the Father does not desert Jesus on the cross. The Father suffers with Christ. This has implications for other areas (see here and here ), but it also has very personal i...

Mohler has a very helpful article on the use and benefit of study Bibles here .

Best u-tube video I’ve seen in a long time is linked to here .

Stand to Reason gives a link to a World Magazine article on the persecution of Christians in Iraq . Here’s an excerpt: As a result, over 2 million Iraqis—about 25 percent of them identified as Christians—have fled to neighboring countries, mostly Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. (View the map.) Judging from extensive conversations with Iraqis living in Jordan and Syria, few want to go home. While at least 40,000 Iraqis have been killed in fighting, random violence, and terrorism since the U.S. invasion in 2003, these refugees are the Iraq War's living casualties—psychologically damaged from the prolonged terrorism, afraid of the next text message or the letter on the doormat, and helpless before a fearful future. The most appalling thing that I hear about the Iraq war is the notion that Christians were better off under Saddam Hussein than under the current government. It breaks my heart that my friends are going to Iraq to get shot at so that we can let the new government we h...

Thanks to The Point for a link to an article on “three dead, more wounded” in ‘Black Friday’s’ shopping spree. The Guardian article says in part: Two men shot and killed each other in a crowded Toys R Us shop in southern California on Friday as shoppers thronged to the sales on what is normally one of the biggest retail days of the year in the US… A Wal-Mart employee was killed when a crowd, which had gathered for a sale at a Long Island outlet, surged into the shop as the doors were being opened at 5am… It is humbling to see where unbridled consumerism leads us. Once we start to depend on things we buy to make us happy, we start down a road without a cross-over for a u-turn. I know I have been guilty of the same kind of spirit. It’s so easy to use that credit card to purchase something. In any circumstance, we always do what we want to do, and we always want to do what will make us the most happy. (That’s my short version of the book The Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards.)...