Tuesday, January 13, 2015
It was remarked in a podcast that “real church” includes fellowship with man as well as God. Criticized especially were those that dart out of their pew once the services is completed. So how long are you required to linger if you don’t really have anything to say and it is quite obvious that no one really has anything to say to you?
Monday, January 12, 2015
Friday, January 09, 2015
Would You Rather They Not Go To Any Church At All?
Maybe he’d rather they just stop attending altogether.
It will be years before a newcomer will be allowed to do anything other than fill a pew anyway (unless they drop a conspicuously large contribution into the collection plate anyway).
So what’s the big deal?
Even if such people are traveling around to a variety of doctrinally acceptable congregations, aren’t they still learning about God?
Or are these preachers so wrapped up in themselves that the only people they believe that these things can be learned through are themselves?
If so, aren’t they taking the first steps to becoming a cult?
By Frederick Meekins
Fascinating. An anti-dating Primitive Baptist upheld as ideal the path Esther pursued to marriage. So apparently there is nothing wrong with a Christian girl concealing her background in order to marry a pagan polygamist drunkard who dumped his primary wife because refused to be paraded on display like a go-go dancer. Mind you, these are the same ultrafundamentalist types that would refuse to let enter the pastorate an elderly widower that married an elderly widow that divorced a drunkard of a husband two spouses back that had since already died.
Thursday, January 08, 2015
Some Sins Indeed Result In Greater Judgment
All sins bring judgment.
However, if Christians are guilty of the criticism of which they have been charged, isn't that tendency in part the result of the way the Biblical narrative presents itself?
For example, because of the sin of rampant homosexuality, Sodom and Gomorrah were obliterated from the face of the Earth as result of direct divine intervention in the form of fire raining down from Heaven.
Neither can one find any Biblical figure held in esteem that went through a struggle in which they succumbed to this particular form of temptation.
The same is not necessarily true with those falling into heterosexual adultery.
Take for example King David.
Granted, his family went to pieces following his romp with Bethsheba.
However, these were more the result of the consequences of his own actions rather than direct retribution.
Furthermore, the Scripture at no point invalidates or repeals the appellation of him being a man after God's own heart and the patriarch of the royal lineage through which God's kingdom will have no end.
By Frederick Meekins
Will Accoustic Levitation Lead To The Developement Of Anti-Gravity Technology?
Wednesday, January 07, 2015
Asking "Why" Not Necessarily An Act Of Idolatry
Many conjectures and assertions made in sermons don't really have all that much to do with what is plainly written in the pages of Scripture but rather are about displaying the alleged piety of the pulpit expositor.
It was contended in a sermon that a dour Christian is one that is guilty of idol worship.
Could not the same thing be said about the individual that exudes a pretense of happiness at all times?
From this kind of flippant response to human suffering and emotion, one wonders if such a position stems more from simply not wanting to deal with those grappling with these kinds of struggles.
This observational conjecture is supported by the common exegetical insistence that the Christian can't ask why even when initially confronted with a seemingly overwhelming event or reality as a way to come to grips with what one is enduring.
As evidence, the pastor in the course of this sermon insisted that since Jesus did not lose His joy upon the cross, so neither should we.
But was that not the moment and place from which Christ vocalized, “My God, My God, WHY hast thou forsaken me?”
This preacher, that obviously hasn't been sick a day in his life, remarked that God has extended us the privilege of suffering.
Therefore to desire otherwise as expressed through the articulation of “Why”, the pastor continued, would be a form of idolatry by wanting something that God did not for us.
So by that definition, does that mean it is a sin to shift position when your foot falls asleep or to pass gas when one feels gastronomically bloated?
But if responding to these kinds of symptoms is the body's way of maximizing physical health, perhaps asking questions is more the soul's attempt in a similar fashion to process facts and data that often on the surface until profounder reflection seem to contradict many of the things that we have been told or taught about God often by those claiming to rank among His foremost spokesman.
By Frederick Meekins
Not Really The Pastor’s Business How Long It Takes You To Settle On A Church
It will be years before a newcomer will be allowed to do anything other than fill a pew anyway (unless they drop a conspicuously large contribution into the collection plate anyway).
So what’s the big deal?
Even if such people are travelling around to a variety of doctrinally acceptable congregations, aren’t they still learning about God?
Or are these preachers so wrapped up in themselves that the only people they believe that these things can be learned through are themselves? If so, aren’t they taking the first steps to becoming a cult?
By Frederick Meekins
Tuesday, January 06, 2015
Monday, January 05, 2015
A Review Of Exodus: Gods & Kings
It is more that it could have been better.
The narrative did succeed in creating dramatic interpersonal tension between Moses and Pharaoh by emphasizing the intertwined family relationships of the two characters.
While the film strives to acknowledge in its own way the broad strokes of the Biblical saga, the producers could have done a better job of honoring and adhering to the specifics of the text.
For example, though Aaron is given a supporting role in the story, he tends to look on as Moses haggles with God.
The audience is left to wonder if deity is actually communicating with the prophet or merely a delusion initially induced by a cranial trauma.
Given that the director was Ridley Scott, for all we know the entity manifesting itself in the form of a young boy claiming to be God could have been related to the creatures from the Alien films and alluded to in Prometheus.
With special affects advanced as they are as evidenced in the scenes depicting the assorted plagues, it was a disappointment that there was not a scene depicting the encounter where Aaron's rod consumed the rods of the Egyptian magicians that turned into serpents.
But I guess it was more important to focus on extra-Biblical details like raids on Hittite encampments and characterizing Moses as some kind of guerrilla in the tradition of Che Guevara or Emilio Aguinaldo.
by Frederick Meekins
Belgian Bishop Calls For The Sodomite Penetration Of The Roman Catholic Church
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Why Shouldn't Public Safety Personnel Pick Up Their Own Restaurant Tabs?
In a Facebook update, Sword Of The Lord editor Shelton Smith suggested that upon seeing a police officer, firefighter, or member of the military in a dietary establishment, one ought to purchase such civil servants a complimentary meal.
Would that include law enforcement such as those that drafted guidelines that would categorize constitutionalists and the religiously devout as potential terrorists or those that raid Amish dairies?
The two officers didn't deserve to be murdered on the streets of New York City.
However, from that presupposition, it does not follow that the officer that ended a life over an untaxed cigarette should be relieved of the burden of handling his own restaurant tab.
Aren't these functionaries provided a salary or stipend with which to acquire necessities and simple pleasures?
These are not voluntary positions.
No one is forced to pursue this line of work.
Apart from the solider perhaps, the police officer and professional firefighter are paid at a rate not that far below that of others in the working or middle classes.
Granted, these individuals provide an essential service.
But so do a lot of other people.
So since he grew the food that the restaurant prepared, does that mean that the farmer or the field hand that harvested the nutritional consumables shouldn't have to pay for their own meals either?
A number of historians conjecture that the flush toilet may have done more to expand the human lifespan than nearly every other medical advancement.
Therefore applying the principle that public safety personnel are for some reason entitled to complimentary meals, does that mean plumbers and sewage treatment workers should be lavished with free healthcare?
by Frederick Meekins
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
As a result of his participation in the lawsuit filed by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio regarding attempts by the Obama Administration to prevent the deportation of millions of illegals, WMAL categorized Larry Klayman as a “gadfly attorney”. Would the broadcast outlet dare say something similar regarding Gloria Allred (whose primary motivation of jurisprudence is penis envy) or former Senator and infamous whoremonger John Edwards?
Pastor Invokes Independence Day To Undermine Human Liberty & Legal Protections
The pastor hypothesizes this is because Christ is our master.
The presupposition is correct but the conclusion the pastor deduces from that principle is at best only partially correct if at all.
It must be point out that, because Christ is our master, no man or government can ever be in the ultimate meaning of that concept.
Pulpit expositors must be exceedingly cautious when making claims such as the thesis around which the sermon under consideration is based.
For what if there is some kind of calamity and ISIS-like insurgents establish something akin to Sharia law somewhere in the United States?
If this doctrinal pronouncement is taken to its logical conclusion, when these savages threaten to kill you and rape your wife, as a Christian brainwashed by such urine deficient sermonizing would you just stand there and do nothing with the glazed over smile of an Oral Roberts back up singer plastered across your face?
And what about in a case not so extreme and out of the realm of the possibility in the dark days in which we live?
For if we really have no rights and are to endure everything that is as what Christ deems us worthy of enduring, on what grounds do you defend yourself or family members against a pastor with “wandering hands”?
Or by enunciating this very concern, have I stumbled upon the reason why this particular theory of jurisprudence is shockingly pervasive among certain extremist elements?
By Frederick Meekins
In a sermon titled “The Church: A Called Out Separate Assembly”, Pastor Jason Cooley suggested that people that start screaming and crying when you attempt to take away their Baal bush (presumably he means a Christmas tree) because such people are not acclimated to strong doctrinal preaching. Might the same thing be said regarding this minister as well? For does he not tend to toss a tantrum when a fellow believer might come to a different conclusion regarding such secondary matters?
Regarding the extremeists that post anti-Christmas sermons on SermonAudio.com. Given that the site allows pastors that support the celebration of Christmas to upload content to the site, aren't those opposed to Christmas that remain on the site violating the very Scriptural injunction about separation that they invoke as justification for heaping condemnation upon those that celebrate Christmas? Or have I once again brought up one of those questions no one is supposed to ask?
Monday, December 22, 2014
Sunday, December 21, 2014
How Authoritative Are A Pastor's Sermons Over You?
Ligonier Ministries has posted a meme disturbed that a majority do not believe their pastor's sermons to be authoritative over their lives.
It is God's Word that is authoritative over your life.
The pastor is simply one voice among many to assist in coming to an understanding of that particular text.
The minister's expositions are only authoritative or binding in those areas where the Scriptures speak definitively.
The pastor should be respected and listened to while in the pulpit if you decide to remain in the congregation where he is preaching in terms of refraining from audible disturbances being enunciated upon hearing something over which you have disagreement.
However, in regards to those issues where they can be a variety of opinion among Christians of similar piety and doctrinal propriety, you are the one that has the final say as to what goes on in your own home and life beyond the church meeting house.
By Frederick Meekins
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Michelle Obama Offended For Being Confused With The Hired Help
During her “incognito” trip to Target a few years ago, a mere peasant requested that the First Lady assist her to retrieve an item from a shelf.
But was that because she was confused with ranking among the servile classes as she insists transpired or because she is built like a Sasquatch?
So the next time you find yourself in a retail setting and you see individuals of a particular demographic that become human bobbleheads whenever they go to open their mouths, you will probably get less grief if you hold to the assumption that they are probably too lazy to work to begin with.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Mourning Outburst Not Necessarily A Repudiation Of Faith
As a counterexample, the illustration was provided of a pastor that, upon hearing of the unexpected tragic death of family members questioned, why and where was God.
However, apart from an admonition not to let one's faith waiver like that of this grief-stricken minister, those listening in the congregation weren't provided with much homiletical resolution otherwise as the sermon was hastily brought to a conclusion.
Did this pastor in the illustration renounce his belief in God altogether, as that would have been wrong.
Or, was he upset with God for a season yet still retaining his underlying faith and love of God?
After all, who among us has not been profoundly upset with a family member while still continuing to love them deeply?
Is God so wrapped up in Himself that He does not realize this?
On what grounds does a minister require an expectation that the Bible does not seem to impose?
For example, Job did not curse God.
However, at one point he did verbalize his frustrations with the divinely allowed unfolding of events that this suffering servant did not comprehend.
There are Psalms of lamentation that seem to indicate that David experienced a similar frame of mind where, despite being profoundly troubled, he still retained his deep faith.
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, his son Solomon would counsel that there is a time for mourning.
And one of the most profound Biblical references of all is also the shortest.
The passage succinctly conveys “Jesus wept.”
So if God's own Son did not make it through life without the intense emotional disturbance that is often required to bring a man to public tears, is it really proper to demand an emotional response bordering on a cognitive dissonance more concerned with how a response will be perceived rather than with what the traumatized person is actually experiencing?
By Frederick Meekins
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
Furies No More Deserving Of Ridicule Than Lesbians
Would correspondents expressing shock and contempt upon learning exactly what it is that their colleague Rachel Maddow does in pursuit of carnal pleasure still be employed by that network?
As warped as they might be, at least there is still the possibility for those at the fury convention to pair off with members of the opposite sex.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
No One's Business If Fewer Parents Allow Children To Play Football
A survey concludes that nearly 50% of Americans would not want their sons to play football.
So what?
It is up to the parents to decide what recreational pursuits that they will allow their children to pursue.
There is nothing in Scripture demanding participation in organized athletics whatsoever.
Should these youngsters be catastrophically injured during a game, are those elevating participation on the gridiron nearly to the status of an obligation going to pick up the expenses for hospitalization or longterm care?
by Frederick Meekins
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Kirk Cameron No More Self-Obsessed Than Other Hollywood Luminaries
In other words, the production follows in the classic Hollywood tradition trail-blazed by the likes of Ellen Degeneres who stretched her talents as a thespian by coming out on her sitcom as a lesbian (which most could already tell she was by simply looking at her) and this seasons acclaimed comedy “Black-ish” that is so obsessed with race that the producers gave it a title that would result in riots (these days quite literally) if nearly the same program aired with an ethnically corresponding ensemble titled “White-ish”.
If The Leaving Are The Excrement, What Does That Make The Pastor Forcing Them Out?
But wouldn't that make the one squeezing them out (often the pastor) the anus?
That part of the anatomy remains attached as a permanent fixture and remains caked with lingering stench and filth no matter how well intentioned its regular cleaning.
Unless one is on the payroll or holds some kind of position of responsibility in a particular congregation, there is nothing in Scripture saying you have to articulate any specific reason why you might decide to leave and go elsewhere.
By Frederick Meekins
North Dakota has gained headline attention for proposing that, in order to graduate, students ought to be required to pass a citizenship test of the variety administered to arrivals seeking that particular legal status. Before looking down one's nose in disgust at contemporary youths unable to intellectually grasp the basics of being an American, shouldn't it be asked if the school system is itself teaching these basics?
Southern Baptist Leadership Urges Churches To Emulate Mafia Protection Rackets
What those hearing this ought to do is either leave that church altogether or, if they don't itemize their contributions for tax purposes, not give the remainder of their 2014 offering until sometime in 2015 just for the Sheol of it.
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