Saturday, December 27, 2008

My Web Sites, forums and such

I needed a place to store the addresses to my current web sites and this seemed as good a place as any.
Needs Met

Church Home Search
(still under construction. but it will be a Church evaluation site. Folks looking for a church home will be able to come onto the site and seach for local area churches. But it will be more than just a boring page of Church adds. It will be a place for one stop shopping for churches where you can compare their services, styles, ministries, and even have a rating system.)

YWAM Class of 1990 reunion
This is a forum that I put together for my YWAM friends. I attended Youth With a Mission in Yyler Texas back in 1990. Im trying to find all my class mates that I attended DTS and SOE with. We hope to have a reunion as soon as I can find everyone.

Facebook personal page
This is my personal facebook page

My Space personal page
This is my personal My Space page

My Space YWAM page
This is the page we set up to find class mates on ours.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Shack controversary

I don’t subscribe to many blogs. I find most to be boring and not worth my time to read them. I’m not being harsh, just realistic. I do subscribe to this one called Voice of the Sheep . http://voiceofthesheep.wordpress.com . Its a interesting blog for the main reason that I mostly disagree with the author on much of what he says.

He has a theology that he sticks to. Like most others that have subscribed to a certain theology, he is unwilling to think beyond this and bashes those that do. Here is a case in point.

There is a book called “The Shack.” The book seems to have caused a good deal of controversy in the Church. He bashes the book and sides with the ones that call it heresy.

I have pasted here in my blog his comments on this book as well as my response.

Shambles - a scene or a state of great disorder or confusion. A mess.
I think the initial buzz surrounding William P. Young’s The Shack Shambles is over, and now what we have is a semi-silent brush fire sweeping through the church at an alarming rate which is going largely unnoticed. Without going into detail, I am running into this book virtually everywhere I turn. More accurately, I am running into people reading this book everywhere I turn. And I do mean everywhere.

Knowing what I know regarding how the book portrays God the Father, the Trinity, the nature of salvation, redemption, and the sufficiency of Scripture, to name a few, I am quite concerned at the comments I am reading at various web sites and by so-called Christian leaders. People are saying this book has changed their life, and that they now understand who God is for the first time ever. Prominent leaders are saying The Shack is the most important work since Pilgrim’s Progress (Eugene Peterson), and that it is “a God thing” (Steve Brown). Steve Brown, of Key Life, even says that he was contemplating becoming a Buddhist before he read the book, but that it changed his life!

There are so many things to address in The Shack that it is hard to know where to begin. The goal of my post here is to simply show one serious defect in the theology of the book. I know, I know. If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a thousand times that this is not a book on theology. I agree. But, while it is not a book on theology, it IS a theological book! The whole thing is about an encounter with God, for cryin’ out loud! How could it NOT be theological? And I don’t care how many people say you must set your theological ‘meter’ aside while you read this thing, that is something a disciple of the risen Savior must never do. For we are to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Now, back to the point of my post.
I want you to read the two quotes below and see if you detect a glaring contradiction in them. Both of them are from “Papa”, who in the book represents God the Father (portrayed as an African-American woman, mind you). Here is what Papa says on pages 120 and 225, respectively:

“I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it”
“In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me, but only some choose relationship”

Did you catch it? Read them again.

In the first statement, Papa says that she doesn’t need to punish sin because sin is its own punishment. In the second statement, Papa declares that she has forgiven all humans for their sins “in Jesus”. My question is this:

What was the point of Jesus going to the cross if God doesn’t need to punish people for their sin? If sin is its own punishment, then Christ died needlessly. If the punishment for my own sin lies within the sin itself, then why do I need Jesus? If what Papa says is true, then I have already atoned for my own sin, and Jesus’ death on the cross is of no benefit to me or anyone else who repents. I am not sure what Young’s religious background is, but this almost sounds like some sort of Roman Catholic ‘penance’ which purifies, rather than the work of Christ on the cross in my place.

I don’t know if it was Young’s intent to negate the work of Jesus going to the cross, but this one little statement from Papa sure seems to do that very thing. Actually, there is more than one problem that arises when one takes these two statements from Papa in The Shack and compares them. Can you tell what the others are?

By the way, if you have not yet read Tim Challies’ thorough review of The Shack, I would like to strongly encourage you to do so. He has put together a very good critique in pdf format which can be easily printed out and distributed. Get the word out.

And my response

Brian,

I have not yet read “The Shack.” I just ordered it from Amazon. I have read several reviews on it though. When ever I find a book, or movie that shacks (misspelled on purpose)up the Church and causes so much controversy, I sit up and take notice.

I think to myself, “Praise God. Finally someone has had the balls to break the mold and color outside the lines of our safe and boring theology and view of God that we have so carefully created. Perhaps I have finally someone with a little vision.”

I rush out as fast as I can and order it. I have found that most of the time, when someone, or something, causes controversy in the Church, its usually a God thing. Just a handful of cases in point.

Loren Cunningham - He went around to many Churches with his idea on using drama to illustrate the story of Jesus and his vision of waves of young people washing ashore on distant lands taken the gospel of Christ. He was laughed out of every single one. Today, Youth With a Mission is one of, if not the largest Christian Missions organization in the world.

Keith Green – Keith was a singing prophet. When he started out, he was told to keep quiet and not speak out against the Church. But He has a message from God and was a single handed instrument that God used to wake the Church up and from its complacency. He is now dead, but he began Last Days Ministries, which is not a part of YWAM.

I could go on, but I will stop there. The point is simply that we don’t know it all. At any given time, we are about half wrong in most anything that we think we know. But even apart from this, this is a work of fiction guys. Why pick it part? If people that are reading it are finding that it has brought them closer to God, why do you want to take that away from them?

It’s nearing Christmas. How about focusing in on the positive and wonderful things that are coming out of this book and many more like it? If you find controversy in that book, I know you are going to love this one. My very good friend Eric Wilson wrote it.
It’s called Field of Blood. http://www.WilsonWriter.com

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Economy and the big 3 Auto Makers

Since Im now involved in the stock market, I find that Im on the front lines, or close to it anyway, on hearing about these wowes of the economy. Even for those that are not this close to it, its easy to see the problems. First, there are the problems with Wall Street. The market has been going down and down most every day. Many people that have stock has lost thousands and even hundreds of thousands. Though the problem is not really the stock market. The market, after all, is just a refection of the nations economy. Mainly it is the banking industry that is failing. Companies like Freddie May & Fannie Mac that have caused this, not the stock market.

Now there is a new problem. Well, its not really new, but has just now come to the front lines of public view. Its the big 3 auto makers, GM, Ford, and Cherysler. The big 3 have been on the verge of failure for many yers now. Its only now that unless something is done soon, 1 or all of them may face bankruptcy. All 3 of them are crying out to the federal government to bail them out.

First, Id like to explore financial collapse myself. Then Id like to throw in my 2 cents worth , or however much it has become now, of opinion.

Our parents and parents parents had a different set of Financial values. If they didnt have the cash in hand, they didnt buy it. They simply did without.

If they did get into financial hardship, there was only 1 solution. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps! They were told; "You got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out.

Now the norm is, If you cant afford it, just charge it. Not only is this the way that individual families handle their finances, but its also the norm for corporations. Now, if we get into financial hardship, the solution is simple, just file bankruptcy.

I think what is needed is for the nation to get back to where it once was. We need our financial system to once again be based on cash, not credit. If you cant afford it, then go without. If you get into financial distress, if at all possible, get yourself out of it.

Statistically, those families that file bankruptcty file over and over again. They just stay in the patern of raking of dept and filing Bankruptcy, raking up debt and filing bankruptcty then repeating it again and again.

Americas Corporations are also in this patern. But for them, all they have to do is cryout to Uncle Sam and he bails them out.

Why are they more elegible for this financial windfall than the nice little video store that went out of business just down the street? The reason is simple. They can claim that their industry is essential, and if they go down, it would deal a severe blow to the American economy. Thats why we have bailed the auto industry out before and may do it again.

But this is exaclty why we cant bail them out!

Corporations like the big 3 have the attitude that if things do get bad for them, they dont have to figure out how to fix things themselves, all they have to do is get the feds to fork over billions.

So they dont really have any real incentive to fix themselves. They can just ask for this bail out and pretty much go back to the same failed business model that got them into the mess in the first place.

The next problem is, whos next? Whats the next "essential to the nations economy" business or industry that will want a financial bail out?

If we keep bailing out failing busiensses, instead of actually fixing the problem, its onlt going to get worse.

So, here is ther part where I offer up my ideas on how to deal with this. Ready? Here I go.

In the words of the Soup nazi.....No bail out for you!
Either they will figure out a way to fix themselves, or they will go under. If they file bankruptcy, which would probably be Chapter 11 (reorganization), hopefully the courts would force the old failed management to leave and they would get new management, a new business model and a new healthy plan for recovery.

If they go under completely, let em go under. In order for new life to come, death is required. You can examlpes of this everywhere. Maybe the big 3 need to die. If they do, perhaps some innovative new auto makers would emerge to take their place. Who knows. The point is, maybe its just time for a change.

We can either kick and screem and do everything we can to try to prop up these dying hourses, or we can let them die and loving embrase the new comanies that will emerge to take their place.

Friday, November 14, 2008

The Nephilim - There goes the neighborhood

I have been fascinated by the Nephilim. For those that dont know who they are, or were, depending on your beliefs, they were the race of Hybrids that were created from the union of the daughters of men and fallen angels.









According to the Word, they existed before the flood and also after. Goliath, of David and Goliath fame, was a Nephilim.

God brought about the flood because of this race of no good half breeds and chose Noah because he was the only blood line not corrupted by it.


Follow me so far? If you have trouble beleiving that, then you most certainly are not going to want to stick around for what I have to say next. Theries abound on what happens next.


One theory, which I think is pretty sound is that when the Nephilim died in the flood, their spirits became what we know of today as Evil Spirits or Demons. Other theories are that they escaped somehow to underground caverns in the earth. Some think that the earth is hollow, which is a old theory. But these Nephilim now live in these underground caverns in the hollow earth.


Still others believe that Nephilim escaped to a distant planted or star. The most common held home is belived to be planet X, or the 12th planet, otherwise known as Nibiru.




This theory says that these Nephilim have been visiting us for a long long time and will come back in force on of these days. We know them now as Aliens, UFO's and the like. They are the ones responsible for all the aleged abductions and experiements as they continually alter the human DNA.


My question is this. Does anyone out there believe all this? if so, how much do you believe and at what point does your belief stop?

So, tell me what you think?












Did God Contradict himself?

This was sparked by a post on another blog. His stand was this..Everything God purposes to do, He does. If all people everywhere are not saved, then He has not purposed/intended for all people everywhere to be saved. So he is saying that God intended only but a few to actaully be saved and the rest are destined to be seperated from God.So the issue is did God really intend everyone to be saved or did he just intend that a few know him.

This is the age old arguement of Pre-Destination vs free will. If God pre-destinied only a few to be saved, then he pre-destined some to not get saved. If we are destined to do one of the other, then we are not free to choose, Right?

The problem is that we are human. Our thought process is limited to what our bodies can perceive from our environment. We are constrained to liner space and time.We are desperately trying to understand the thought processes of a being that does not have these limitations. God is not limited by space, or time. He is not constrained within a fleshly body. He knows the choices that we will make in our life even before we do. He probably knew this even before we were born. Now does this mean that we don’t have free will to make our decisions?Not at all. To us free will and pre-destination are 2 extremes that cannot possibly coexist.

I submit to you that they can and do work together quite nicely to a being that does not have the limited brains that we do.I submit that the problem that you propose is also not a problem at all. God knows who will and will not be saved even before we were all born. Now does that mean that he does not will that all be saved? Not at all. It simply means that he has that foreknowledge of who will and who will not be accept him. So to us, with our limited brains, we think that he only chose a limited few to be saved.But to a God that is able to think way beyond the limitations of space and time, this makes perfect sense.

Grand Opening

I just created this blog, so its grand opening day. My mission here is simple. To talk about things. Anything really. Though waht I tend to want to talk about are the things of God. But Im certainly open to talking about whaver the wind blows our way.

I only ask a couple things. Please keep it clean and peaceful. If anyone posts anything with foul language in it, I will remove it.