Sunday, March 01, 2015
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Friday, February 27, 2015
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Pastor's Reflections Regarding The Single Life Border On Christian Sharia
The preacher revealed that he prefers warm weather. Yet he resides in an area where he must preach outdoors wear multiple layers while exposed to the cold because that is the will of God.
It might be, but not to the extent to which the Bible explicitly forbids carnal sins such as fornication and adultery. Those are not choices in the sense such as where the pastor decides to live or the methods he decides to employ in evangelistic outreach.
From this rhetorical peek, this exposition only went downhill.
Pastor Jason Cooley proclaimed that his children (especially his daughter) will not be allowed to leave home until they are married. If they are not sufficiently brainwashed, what will prevent them that does not violate the laws against unlawful detention from fleeing home once they reach the age of majority?
Pastor Jason Cooley further remarked that it was never appropriate in a church setting for a woman to join in on a conversation with a group of men during a time of fellowship. What would they be talking about at a church function that was so filthy that a proper Christian lady should not be present to either hear or comment on to begin with?
In this sermon on singleness, Pastor Jason Cooley asked what are singles doing to help others. Given the increasing tax burdens, they are helping with approximately a third of their incomes every day that they go to work. They are not responsible if government authorities then squander what the productive have provided.
In a sermon on singleness, Pastor Jason Cooley suggested that the single women in a congregation where obligated to render assistance to those that were married with children. If married church people have procreated to the extent that they are unable to take care of their own progeny, perhaps they should have been less vigorous in their reproductive undertakings.
Pastor Jason Cooley in a sermon on singleness insisted that there is no such thing as a Christian feminist. It would depend upon what is meant by the term.
It would be accurate in terms of God not approving of acts such as abortion or a promiscuous lifestyle even though Christians might fall into those particular sins. However, what these hardline pastors lump under the banner of feminism can include women doing little more than wearing pants, being at the beach at the same time as men, failing to change out of one's night cloths while a college dorm is burning to the ground, and apparently talking to a group of men following the conclusion of these asinine kinds of sermons.
By Frederick Meekins
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
In a sermon comparing those that don't hold formalized membership in the congregations that they attend to shacked up whores, the preacher claimed that if you don't belong to a single church, you won't know what pastor to submit to. There isn't that much divergency in orthodox formulations of the faith that the teaching is going to pull you in two competing ethical directions. If you don't hold a position in a church beyond that of pew filler, no church should be allowed to control you to such an extent. If you need someone to control you on the personal level that you can't decide for yourself what constitutes solid teaching and sound morals, you are afflicted with a profound mental or emotional deficiency.
Those holding to a Reformed perspective taking delight in being little more than God's toy to be discarded if you happen to be a Bespin guard or Jawa rather than a Boba Fett or Luke Skywalker in terms of action figure like to boast how the sinner's prayer does not save. A recitation of the mere words might not. However, believing them does. It is a reasonable wager that fewer were damned for reciting the sinner's prayer than for relying on their infant baptism without ever exercising their own belief.
The murderer of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield was sentenced to life without parole. Had he only killed Chad Littlefield, would we have even heard about this tragic incident? Given this media precedent, will we be informed through national broadcast and journalistic outlets of every other murder verdict handed down in the state of Texas?
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
To What Extent Should Wheaton Punish An Apostate Graduate?
In opposition to Rob Bell's support of homosexuality, the hosts of Generation's Radio suggested that Wheaton College (the school from which Bell graduated) should do more than simply stop selling the apostate's works in the campus bookstore.
Instead, the university should revoke Bell's degree and hold a book burning.
Is that the direction American's ought to take cultural disagreement in this country?
Should similar policies also be applied to those holding to explicitly conservative religious positions?
For example, the host Kevin Swanson holds a degree in engineering from a secular university.
Should it be revoked not for reasons of academic corruption but rather on the grounds of his opposition to wanton debaucheries such as gay marriage or upholding orthodox Christian belief such as those pertaining to the divinity of Christ?
By Frederick Meekins
Southern Baptist Functionary Lays Claim To You Extraneous Income
The justification for this principle can be found in the admonition that godliness with contentment is great gain.
Interestingly, Platt is not providing this advice so that you might provide better for yourself in the rocky times ahead likely to result from a declining economy.
Instead, you are expected to give the abundance away (no doubt towards programs from which Pratt's own bottom line will ultimately benefit).
Perhaps the first extraneous expenditure Christians ought to eliminate from their budget should be the purchase of any books published by Pastor Platt.
Secondly, if we are to live our lives in a hyper-Biblical fashion, perhaps Christians should cut donations to Christian organizational bodies found nowhere in Scripture.
The first of these coming to mind might be none other than the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
By Frederick Meekins
What Does It Matter What Scott Walker Thinks Of Obama’s Religious Profession?
Outrage has erupted over Scott Walker not being sure whether or not President Obama is a Christian.
What does it matter what Scott Walker conjectures regarding the President's soterilogical state?
Scott Walker holds no office in any church exercising ecclesiological authority or oversight over Barack Obama.
Nor does Scott Walker exhibit any signs that this perceptual thread in his comprehensive epistemic web will prompt him towards any act of violence.
In a podcast regarding church government, it was postulated that you can’t go hobnobbing on social media with someone voted out of a church. The control your church exercises over you should not be that pervasive unless you are on the payroll possibly. And that is not so much from the standpoint of some lofty moral principle possibly but more from the organization’s power to ruin noncompliant hirelings financially.
In a podcast regarding church government, it was postulated that you can’t go hobnobbing on social media with someone voted out of a church. The control your church exercises over you should not be that pervasive unless you are on the payroll possibly. And that is not so much from the standpoint of some lofty moral principle possibly but more from the organization’s power to ruin noncompliant hirelings financially.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Is Focus On Christian Sufficient Grounds For Church Unity?
Pastor Sean Harris on SermonAudio.com suggests in a sermon nearly of the same name that the way to eliminate divisions within the church is to focus on Christ.
So what happens when that focus on Christ leads some to believe that His Eucharistic remembrance actually becomes the literal body and blood of the Savior, some that his presence is somehow contained within the elements, and yet still others simply are a symbolic contemplative commemoration?
And whose teaching is to prevail in the way Sunday School positions or slots on the deacon board are doled out when the focus on Christ leads some to conclude that He returns to retrieve His church prior to the Tribulation and others to conclude after the Tribulation?
In his homily, Pastor Harris ruminated what the church in America would be like if there were no denominations.
Provided people did not just abandon organized religion altogether, the situation would return to the upheaval characterizing the Reformation and Counterreformation if it was required that only a singular opinion would be allowed to exist within the boundaries of a unified Christendom.
Christian Broadcaster Uses Brian Williams As Pretext For Male Bashing
Isn't it a testament to how much more frightening the female ego is that hardly anyone would dare raise the specter of Oprah Winfrey's own journalistic embellishments or programs such as the View as examples to which the base impulses and deficiencies of character tempting to that particular gender have been allowed to run rampant throughout the media?
Is it really male ego that prompted Brian Williams to fabricate news accounts or rather a media complex that requires increasingly extravagant spectacles to gain ratings?
How is what Williams did all that different than the “evangelastic” tales many missionaries elaborate in order to guilt-trip congregations into filling collection plates?
Eddie Murphy refused to portray Bill Cosby in a Saturday Night Live skit. The reason given was the impropriety of kicking a man while he is down. But hasn't that been a fundamental modus operandi of Saturday Night Live over the past forty years? Would the show even exist without that variety of comedy?
Friday, February 20, 2015
Thursday, February 19, 2015
During an episode of Generations Radio, some woman was giving one of those testimonies where they air all of the dirty laundry of their past lives as justification as to why you have to live a super strict lifestyle renouncing nearly every convenience of the modern world. In this verbal pity party, the lady remarked that she had never had a honeymoon. Given that she had six children by that point and was banging against the headboards with her now husband before he had divorced his previous wife (mind you, this is from the same movement where your daughter is classified as a street whore if she holds hands or kisses someone prior to the wedding ceremony), hadn’t she already had a honeymoon multiple times over?
Interesting logic. Because some overly sheltered Christians went hog wild into debauchery once exposed to the secular university campus, a number of homeschool podcasters insist that those in the listening audience aren’t supposed to aspire to anything beyond a life of manual labor even if they do not possess an affinity towards tasks requiring mechanical alacrity or to attain any knowledge other than that possessed by their parents. Sometimes I think about being a preacher. But if this represents the kind of reasoning we are supposed to nod in agreement with while verbalizing a hearty “Amen”, I sometimes think it is more my purpose to be more like a Mark Twain or Chesterton and just expose some of this foolishness.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Christian Filmmaker Befuddled Over The Relationship Between Media & Religion
In the synopsis, he name drops that the upcoming film features Harry Anderson.
The cinematographer reminds that Anderson, before his descent into obscurity, starred as the judge on the sitcom “Night Court”.
So if the truly sanctified believer is to refrain from these kinds of wordly entertainments, how is anyone in the listening audience even supposed to know what “Night Court” is?
Admittedly, I saw a few episodes of Night Court in my youth.
From what I remember, the comedy was heavy on innuendo,
I will confess I enjoy doubled-meaninged word play a little too enthusiastically at times.
However, I don't host a podcast insinuating that your daughter is going to end up being a lesbian if she's too infatuated from a literary or dramatic standpoint with the world of “Little House On The Prairie” as Generations Radio suggested some years back.
Are we to take away that it is acceptable to watch “Night Court” but we need to repent if we find “Hunger Games” to be an intriguing dystopian projection of the world to come in a few decades?
For this very same director that bragged about casting a former celebrity from “Night Court” insisted that it is not enough for a movie to be family friendly, wholesome, or make valid moral observations.
Rather, to be acceptable, a movie must deliberately push Christianity onto the viewer.
Christiano went on to lament how Christians don't get excited over Christian movies.
Sorry, but I don't plop down $10 for any movie where the characters do little more than sit around crying about their everyday feelings and common disappointments.
To be theater worthy in my opinion, considerable spectacle is needed such as some kind of mass battle, talking animals, robots, superheroes, space aliens, clashing wizards or spies.
Christiano further observed that someone couldn't remember what their pastor preached about a month ago but could recall details about “The Wizard of Oz” despite having not seen it in years.
Before heaping hellfire and damnation upon those that might respond similarly, a number of things need to be taken into consideration.
Firstly, how old are they now compared to when they first saw “The Wizard of Oz”?
So isn't that more of God's responsibility for how He allows the brain to decay overtime where it is often easier to recall things that happened to minutest detail 30 or 40 years ago but you can't for the life of you remember what you had for dinner last night?
Secondly, perhaps the blame should be placed more upon the pastor for lack of showmanship and presentation rather than upon the average Christian for failing to retain the intricate details.
For I am sure the next time that there are flying monkeys and dancing midgets in church that you are going to remember it.
Which brings the discussion to another very important point.
One goes to the movies precisely to see an out of the ordinary spectacle.
That is not the the case necessarily in regards to a church worship service.
Upon further consideration, what is retained from a sermon might not be all that different from what is retained from a film.
For example, unless one sees especially at a young age a particular film over and over again, does anyone really retain much beyond a memory of the basic plot usually?
As I approach middle age, sometimes I find I can't recall what happened the previous week on some of the dramas that I follow quite closely.
Thus, instead of condemning a congregation or group of random Christians if they can't elaborate the specifics of a single sermon, shouldn't the professional clergy be more pleased and concerned that those under their care recall the main points of the comprehensive Christian saga rather than the obtuse actions of a single Old Testament character with a name that defies pronunciation?
Along the lines of this criticism about the moviegoer longing for innovation and spectacle, Christiano lamented how movies never satisfy and people always want to see the next big blockbuster.
Let's apply that presupposition to other aspects of life one would otherwise consider wholesome, admirable, and desirable.
For example, according to this logic, shouldn't it be enough to go to church once and never have to go again to quench one's spiritual thirst?
If one's marriage is truly based upon love and not upon the titillation of fleshly desires, by Christiano's thinking, would a couple need to enjoy carnal relations more than once throughout the course of their entire marital union?
Media spectacle will never replace sermonic exposition as the primary didactic methodology through which concise doctrinal content is transmitted to the believer.
However, it often seems that certain Evangelical factions aren't that interested in making much use of these supplementary media formats to augment the learning experience.
In regards to the upcoming “AD” miniseries, the hosts of one program after remarking just moments before about the tendency of a number of Christians to stay in their own bubble, didn't really give much of a reason to avoid the production other than that its producer Roma Downey is a Roman Catholic with mystical New Age tendencies.
Wouldn't it have been better to wait and see if there are any factual errors in Downey's narrative rather than condemn the production on the basis of whatever errant peculiarities she might gravitate towards in the personal aspects of her devotional life?
After all, most conservative Evangelicals allow the King James Bible to stand on its own merits without the homosexual and Romanist proclivities of the monarch for which this translation of divine revelation is named allowed to detract from its literary, historical, or theological merits.
Like it or not, believers find themselves in a culture surrounded by media.
It is therefore imperative not only to figure out how the media can be used to disseminate the Christian worldview but to also understand where the methodologies of entertainment and the church can diverge from one another without there having to be a spirit of hostility between the distinct purposes of each of these modes of communication.
By Frederick Meekins
Monday, February 16, 2015
Friday, February 13, 2015
Worldview Clashes In Super Bowl Commercials As Riveting As The Actual Game
A variety of assumptions worthy of additional comment were propagated for public dissemination through a number of Super Bowl commercials.
In one anti-bullying spot, a social engineer instructs the one to be mentally reconditioned to run or fight like a girl.
Upon compliance, the unenlightened male is subjected to Pavlovian denunciation (akin to what one would receive in a prisoner of war camp) over how he has insulted his sister.
Rather than an instructive analysis of preconceived notions, the lesson to be learned from the public service announcement is that, irrespective of whether you comply with or ignore orders issued by a women, you are going to be reamed a new one anyway.
For if the ambushed lad had not been told to run like a girl, he would have not likely perpetrated the offending action.
If producers of this broadcast spot are so outraged about thought crimes regarding gender, it would be interesting to hear their perspective regarding the commercial featuring perennial pottymouth Sarah Silverman.
In that one, she says after delivering a baby to the parents, “Sorry, it's a boy.”
Would such blatant denigration of the female gender be permitted in a similar commercial?
Lastly, what about the Scientology advertisement?
In 2011, Fox rejected a Super Bowl commercial that broadcast the message, “John 3:16, what's that mean?” on the grounds that the message contained too much religious doctrine.
Of course, that is unlike the moral-free content of the constant litany of erectile dysfunction commercials where the term “partner” but never “spouse” is constantly verbalized.
It is certainly instructive that programming executives at NBC had no problem, however, with a commercial for Scientology, which is a cult that believes that human beings are reincarnated space aliens and whose sexfiend founder tried to live aboard a cruise ship in order to elude capture for his assorted crimes.
It is easy to assume that the commercials are a momentary distraction allowing the viewer time for a quick trip to the bathroom or to grab another handful of chips.
However, in those brief 30 second spots, there is a contest underway for minds and at times even souls that is as pitched as any struggle on the gridiron
By Frederick Meekins
Thursday, February 12, 2015
In the book “Stop Dating The Church”, Josh Harris popularized the analogy that church membership is akin to marriage. As such, when things become difficult, according to Harris, one should not set out in search of greener pastures but instead endure through the misery. So does his resignation as pastor at the scandal-ridden Covenant Life Church constitute a form of abandonment akin to divorce? In most doctrinally conservative churches, the divorced cannot usually remarry without a profound curtailment of their ecclesiastical privileges and opportunities. So by the logic of his own analogy, should Josh Harris be forever denied another ministry position?
On an episode of “Standing Up For The Truth with Mike Lemay”, it was claimed that experiments in Christian communal living in the 1960's and 1970's fizzled out because the participants became materialistic and wanted their own possessions. But is that really sinfully materialistic or merely the way that God has wired human beings to maximize individual well being? The sharing of resources mentioned in Acts 2 is more a description of a specific historic incident. It is not elaborated as categorically imperative doctrine.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
A number of Christians have suggested that, if the state sanctions gay marriage, it might no longer be appropriate for believers to acquire a marriage license. Though the state sanctioning gay marriage undermines the institution, how would that impact the quality of your own relationship if you as a heterosexual acquire a license? You are in no way forbidden from pursuing a partner of the opposite sex. If a state allows unmarried couples to own the same piece of property, does that mean a devout Christian couple should not purchase a house or take out a mortgage?
Regarding Christian Reconstructionists opposed to Fifty Shades Of Gray. Are they so much opposed to a firm hand of discipline or that someone might actually enjoy it? Isn't there more wrong with that film than a blind fold and a pair of handcuffs as one homeschool podcaster seemed to go on and one about?
A number across the political spectrum are outraged that Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore would attempt to block the establishment of gay marriage in that state. You know, the law is the law. So in the future, should the inheritor of his judicial mantle step aside as easily as they suggest when Jews are once again onto box cars and octogenarians assert the right to 12 year old child brides? Given the advancement of Islam across the globe, don't kid yourself about the aforementioned scenario being beyond the realm of possibility.
Conspiracy Theorists Ponder Is The Greek Prime Minister Possibly The Anti-Christ
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order forbidding the issuance of marriage licenses to gay couples. The proponents of solemnized deviancy accused Roy Moore of grandstanding. But unlike that of the Ferguson insurgents, at least this jurist's political theatrics don't result in the widespread destruction of property.
Monday, February 09, 2015
The following phrase was used in a podcast posted by a prominent Evangelical seminary: “Held accountable in community.” What that means is that you might not have violated anything concrete from the pages of Scripture. Rather, it means you just violated the nebulous sensibilities of the group. What can they do to you if you don't show up? If no other church will take you because of a sentence imposed by another ecclesiastical assembly, what is to prevent the dispossessed from forming a church of their own? The churches being openly defied can't very well complain about it when nearly the same thing occurred in their own backgrounds and origin accounts.
It was entertaining to see Grand Moff Tarkin on an episode of the Star Wars Rebels animated series. However, it was a bit of a let down when the episode opened with the shuttle dispatched from the battle cruiser with the Imperial March playing (known popularly as "The Darth Vader Theme") without Darth Vader emerging before the assembled stormtroopers.
Radical Homeschooler Invokes Abuse Statistics To Justify Denying Women Education
Saturday, February 07, 2015
Did Chuck Swindol Overreact To Elijah's Declaration Of Despair?
A Facebook theologian has commented in agreement with Christian broadcaster Chuck Swindoll that we should never pray for God to take a loved one home to eternity.
It is contended doing so can apparently derail His sovereignty.
Apparently, if we believe that He is sovereign, we should know that He is fully capable of taking us home when He believes that the time has approached.
Isn't that formulation itself an affront to God's sovereignty?
For if God is sovereign in an absolutist sense and the religious thinker not precise in their statements worthy of considerable condemnation as the ultra-Reformed insist, doesn't God KNOW rather than BELIEVE?
In such a theology as being advocated by this Facebook theologian, prayer is not about bringing our requests and concerns to God but rather about formulating statements that we think will make us appear exceedingly pious before certain audiences.
Just how far are we to take the presupposition embodied by this religious postulation under consideration?
If it is wrong to pray for God to mercifully end a life that is suffering, is it just as wrong to pray that God restore life and vitality to a life that He might prefer to draw to a conclusion in this world?
And given that this criticism was posted by someone that is quite vocal in expressing their support of a predestinarian understanding of soteriology so thoroughgoing as to deny any place for human choice and liberty, it must be asked is it a sin to pray for the salvation of a family member that God would rather see slip into Hellfire and damnation?
As justification for this position, the account of Elijah is referenced.
In I Kings 19, while on the run from Ahab and Jezebel, Elijah succumbs to a moment of despair where he declares to the Lord, in verse 4, “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors.”
From the Lord's response, apparently unlike Chuck Swindol, the Lord did not find what Elijah asked that much of an outrage.
Instead of chastising Elijah for his despondency, on two occasions the prophet was given a meal so that he might have strength for the journey that was ahead.
Thus, about the only conclusion that can be drawn from Elijah's lamentation that God end his life is that God does not always answer our prayers the way that we would like.
And if He does not, we might find Him lending us assistance in ways that we did not initially expect.
By Frederick Meekins
Friday, February 06, 2015
Thursday, February 05, 2015
Do The Truly Redeemed Retain Health Insurance?
Furthermore, it is pointed out, if you retain traditional insurance, you are sending your money to a large corporation rather than assisting fellow believers.
So long as I get the services I contracted for in a satisfactory manner, what do I care if a corporation is large?
The broadcasters claimed that insurance allows for control over people's lives.
Instead, believers would be better off if oversight over medical affairs were transferred to the church.
But what is to prevent the church from exercising increased control over people's lives or from allocating access to healthcare in a preferential manner?
For example, would ecclesiastical medicine be dispersed to the truly ill or to the missionary couple with the saddest sob story with so many children that you can't help bring to mind the old nursery rhyme about the old woman that lived in the shoe?
During the 1990’s, Christian broadcasters would dedicate entire episodes of their programs shilling for a telecommunications provider with the angle that if you remained with these companies you where as complicit with these companies in the part they played in furthering the agendas of pornography and homosexuality.
Despite such grandiose moralizing, the thing was that this service was a pain in the backside to use when you needed it the most.
Do you really want the same thing to happen to you in terms of securing essential medical services?
by Frederick Meekins
So why not a wear red day for heart disease in ALL PEOPLE irrespective of gender? Men that die from it somehow less dead? Both of my mother’s parents died from heart ailments. I don’t remember going to the cemetery and getting to talk some to grandpa despite him being dead but not grandma. If men were as callous as these women that only care about assorted health concerns unless specifically targeted towards women, you’d never hear the end of it.
Wednesday, February 04, 2015
Too Spiritual By Half?
The Lutheran seminarian insisted that this symbolically represented the precedence of the spirit over the human tendency to emphasize the body.
The expositor lamented that such a characteristic was the result of the sin nature.
But how is it our fault that the aspect of reality that is the fist to overwhelm our perception on an instinctive level is the physical?
We did not ask to exist as embodied intelligences.
That was part of our original design even in the sinless state.
Unless the demon was cast out first of the person whose body Christ healed and He then had them wait in contemplation for a time before He healed their biological infirmity, isn't this reading too much into the passage?
If one wants to be that attentive to the text, the first miracle in the chapter is actually the bodily healing on the Sabbath of the man with the withered hand.
And what about taking the Four Gospels as a comprehensive totality?
If so, isn't the turning of water into wine at the wedding feast actually thought to be Christ's first miracle?
So do we want to start reading meaning into these as well other than what we are told in the text?
The case could be made that, in terms of a miracle, turning water into wine would appeal more to man's extraneous physical desires than a desire to avoid overwhelming pain and disability.
You make a choice for wine; by design you feel a compulsion to seek the alleviation of pain.
Furthermore, are Lutherans really sure they want to open the door of reading profounder spiritual meaning into the miracles beyond the miracles themselves?
John 2:3 reads, “And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine.”
Since Christ ultimately relented to her request, why shouldn't we build detailed Christological speculations like one particular denomination does about how Christ's decisions are especially swayed by her contemplative petitions if we are going to read profound truths into something as commonplace as the order in which Christ performed these miracles?
If the definition of God's omniscience is that the Deity knows everything, wouldn't that also include alternative temporal potentialities?
Therefore, isn't it just as valid to conclude that, if Jesus went first to heal Peter's mother-in-law, Christ night not have gotten around to this particular demoniac before this pitied soul's life ended in some convulsive spasm?
Among Bible scholars and theologians, the Gospel of Mark is noted as a summarative action oriented narrative.
Why would there need to be some esoteric reason as to the order in which the events described transpired other than that this was the order in which events “organically” unfolded around Jesus?
By Frederick Meekins
The Obama Administration has issued a report hoping to spark a national conversation regarding future transportation needs. That translates as the American people are to be mentally reconditioned to accept restrictions on individual travel and daily movement analogous to the limitations being implemented in the name of healthcare reform.
Tuesday, February 03, 2015
Monday, February 02, 2015
Christian Publisher Targets Children With Leftist Indoctrination
According to the synopsis, Edgar doesn't like company but notices he is followed by a worm. So he tries to get away from the invertebrate.
The summary reads, “Edgar asks for the other animals on the farm to help him, but eventually he realizes he might have been part of the problem all along.”
One cannot comment definitively without having read the story.
However, the question can be raised why does a children's book need to paint those that might prefer to be alone to as if they are defective or some kind of villain?
Will there be a sequel to the story teaching the worm about the impropriety of pushing his affections upon those that don't want them?
Perhaps the text could be titled “Wiggly Worm & The Restraining Order Process Server”.
Some might think that I am reading too much into a children's book.
Eerrdman's has published another storybook by the very same author titled “The Chicken's Build A Wall”.
That book is advertised with the following copy: “At the farm, the chickens are building a wall, convinced that the hedgehog that wandered in must be trouble. But eventually they discover that he might not be as dangerous as they thought.”
Only the most obtuse liberal (of the variety those publishing this propaganda hope children will be indoctrinated into becoming) will refuse to acknowledge the kinds of agendas such a narrative is promoting.
Firstly, just because the first hedgehog is harmless, isn't it just as much an act of unconscionable prejudice to assume that the next hedgehog is just as affable?
Secondly, if the barnyard or however else you want to categorize their enclosure belongs to the chickens, on what grounds are the chickens obligated to allow the hedgehogs to remain there?
And if the flock does allow the one hedgehog to remain there, are the chickens obligated to allow his entire hovel to take up residence in the chicken coop?
Furthermore, if the hedgehog decides to move into the chicken coop, shouldn't the hedgehog learn to cluck like a chicken or will the chickens be required to grunt like a hedgehog?
It must also be taken into consideration how many hedgehogs can be allowed to move onto the farm before the farm begins to more resemble a hedgehog burrow rather than the original barnyard.
And perhaps most importantly, since it seems that the perimeter can be breached by an animal as innocuous (we are assured) as a hedgehog, shouldn't that serve as a warning for those chickens to get that wall erected before creatures of far more nefarious intent such as foxes, wolves, and weasels make their way into the chicken coop?
At that time, will these carnivores form lobbies and activist networks insisting that, since the hedgehog was allowed to take up residence without protest, that they too be allowed to remain even though their intention is to prey upon the chickens and destroy the avian way of life since these species have been in conflict with one another for nearly two millennia?
To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a story can be just a story.
However, when an author or publisher is explicit in conveying didactic propaganda through the medium of a children's narrative, the discerning should not slink back in fear.
It is because such impressionable young minds are potentially on the line that such concerns must be raised with renewed vigor.
By Frederick Meekins
Transcendence: An Encyclopedia Of Transhumanism & The Singularity
Friday, January 30, 2015
Don't you just hate those multi-roll toilet paper dispensers in public restrooms? There is really no way of seeing how low the current roll is. You can be left there mid-business having to grind on the contraption that barely moves in order to get the next roll to drop into place. But I guess if you say anything about this, employing the logic that if you complain about jury duty you must support the abolition of the entire judicial system, it means you must, in terms of hygiene, practice “left hand Arab style” or prefer a communal rag hanging on the wall.
It was suggested that public schools ought to close and education ultimately be put back in the hands of parents. That sounds wonderful on paper. But what is to be done with those that the fangs of organized religion have not sufficiently sunk into or when the skills of the parents are mismatched with the aptitudes of the child? The religious schools are controlling enough with the public alternative looming down their necks. How much worse would they be if they became the prevailing monopoly?
Seattle residents caught filling their trashcans with more than 10% of food will be publicly shamed with a red lid. The program is not intended to stop the waste of consumables per say. Rather the purpose is to prevent food items from being sent to the landfill. But what's the big deal about food items in the landfill. Aren't they by definition biodegradable?
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Pastors Should Be Careful Of Reading Their Own Biographies Into The Apostolic Chronicles
In the account, a number left their previous occupations.
Given that Christ does not explicitly appear before us, it does not follow that we cannot follow Christ in the occupational status that we find ourselves in unless it is something inherently evil such as organized crime.
As an existential application of this passage, the exegete revealed that, if he had listened to his father, he might not have become a minister and certainly not have gone to the mission field.
So why is it deemed more righteous in certain Evangelical circles to leave your elderly family members behind to go minister to other elderly people thousands of miles from where God has already placed you?
Technically, can't it be a greater sacrifice to actually care for one's family because you can't very well gadabout from church to church patting yourself on the back over what a spiritual person you are for driving your parents to the doctors or send out a direct mail fund raising letter insinuating those refusing to send you a check for such spiritual labors are of dubious soteriological standing.
I especially fail to see how those refusing to dump attachments to family in favor of the mission field equate with those in Romans 1 described as allowing homosexuality to gain a foothold in society.
by Frederick Meekins
Will "Prison Break" Return To Fox?
The show was an excellent concept the first two seasons.
Even the third season was not without creativity as it focused on South American prison culture.
However, by the fourth season where the characters had become a government covert operations team the concept seemed strained beyond credibility.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Monday, January 26, 2015
Friday, January 23, 2015
Pastor Overly Critical Of Social Media
However, in a sense, isn't it better to blow off steam online rather than physically slapping the taste out of the mouths of those that they are ticked off about?
As an example, he referenced those that post about getting shoddy service at Starbucks.
But as expensive as those beverages are, shouldn't you be able to vocalize your dissatisfaction somewhere?
But without complaining, wouldn't a pastor be a bit like a firefighter without a hydrant or something akin to a one armed boxer?
Complaining about things is the bread and butter of the ministry.
A pastor remarked that a status update is nothing more than an attempt to be a star for a moment.
So how is that in essence much different than what a pastor does whenever they ascend the pulpit and do anything other than a rote recitation of the Scriptural text?
A pastor admonished that Facebook friendship does not constitute real friendship.
But still isn't it better than nothing at all for those that do not derive much satisfaction through traditional human interaction or happen to be someone most don't really desire to interact with?
Most of the same information can be conveyed through a variety of posts that would otherwise be collected through means that would be categorized as “human intelligence”.
The pastor attempted to solidify his argument by insisting that Facebook friendships are not Biblical friendships.
But frankly, doesn't any relationship where you do not fornicate with, steal from, or murder the involved party pretty much pass Biblical muster?
By Frederick Meekins
The cover of the winter 2015 edition of the UTNE Reader was about women around the world that do not possess what would be considered equal rights. Pictured on the cover was a man and women adorned in what looked like 1950's apparel with the man having a disco ball for a head. Granted, people were not as happy back then as the portrait of idealized domesticity that they were expected to project to the public. However, to be more accurate regarding the threats posed to women outside of America, shouldn't someone have been depicted in Islamist dress or chained in an East Asian sweatshop?
Thursday, January 22, 2015
The Obama Administration is outraged that the Speaker of the House invited without prior approval the Israeli Prime Minister to address Congress. It is claimed that the action constitutes a violation of diplomatic protocol. But a breach of protocol is not necessarily a violation of law. It is not only protocol but a matter of constitutional provision that the actions of the Executive Branch be authorized by statutes enacted by the Legislative Branch rather than by fiat executive order. However, Obama certainly isn't that concerned with procedural precedent any other time.
ISIS is targeting educated women. To be consistent with the standard that they enunciated in reaction to the Charlie Hebbdo massacre, are Pope Francis and William Donahue of the Catholic League going to insinuate that these individuals will also be getting what they deserve for blatantly offending the Islamists?
An instructive study as to how times have changed. The first time an American was displayed as a human prop in the observational gallery during a State of The Union Address occurred during the Reagan Administration. That particular individual jumped into an icy river to rescue the victims of a jetliner crash. Under Obama, those exhibited are dragged out to illicit guiltrips for increased government spending.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
The Pope's Advice Regarding Speech Raises More Concerns Than It Answers
The Catholic News Service has the Pope on record as saying “It's true, one cannot react violently... But...one cannot insult other people's faith, one cannot make fun of faith.”
Such a standard would seem perfectly reasonable in a culture steeped in Christian values.
However, in a profoundly decayed postmodern era, the Pope's recommendation raises more conundrums than his attempt at sage advice actually resolves.
For example, how is insult or making fun of being defined?
Some of depictions of Muhammad (as well as of Christ) published in the French satire magazine no doubt crossed the boundaries of good taste.
However, in this age obsessed with sensitivity to the point where certain agitators can't seem to shake off the sting of an insult after a few hours, the bar as to what constitutes being offended has been shockingly lowered.
For example, there are those that insist it is improper for adherents of one expression of the Christian faith to criticize what are believed to be the doctrinal shortcomings of another.
At the same time, those uplifting such a spirit of ecumenicity in the next breath let loose with a litany of rants against the brand of Christianity adhered to by the person being badgered into acquiescence and silence.
Likewise, what if the legitimate beliefs of a religion compel that religion to act in ways or profess beliefs that are perceived as offensive or insulting to others?
Muslims aren't too keen on the doctrine of the Trinity; is the Pope willing to renounce this foremost Christian fundamental in order to comply with the spirit of the age?
There are some that believe that it is not the place of church functionaries to bar an individual from the elements of Communion or the Lord's Supper.
So what if someone feels slighted by the Roman Catholic Church assiduously monopolizing what adherents of this understanding of Christianity believer are essential ingredients in the liturgical pursuit of salvation?
Likewise, to what extent is the remark “...one cannot insult other people's faith, one cannot make fun of faith” to be adhered to?
To some, an insult to faith can be little more than to insist that your doctrine is right and someone else's is wrong.
It must be remembered that when an American hears these sorts of principles, they are more like rules of etiquette in that they are good ideas to aspire to but not all that much will be done to you if you decide to ignore them.
However, when nearly anyone else around the world says these sorts of things, they mean these notions should be imposed as a matter of statutory law with punishments such as fines or incarceration.
It, therefore, must be asked does the Pope stand with those wanting liberty to prevail throughout the world or does he side with those wanting to plunge civilization into an interminable tyranny?
By Frederick Meekins
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
At the State of The Union, among those scheduled to be exploited like livestock on display is a 13 year old alleged to have written a letter to Santa claiming that all the child wanted was safety. What 13 year old, unless they are “developmentally delayed”, still believes in Santa Claus as an actual being?
If Wrong To Persecute Christians, What About Oppressing Deficient Theologies?
According to this concept, when the higher level civil authority imposes a policy, ruling, or law that undermines freedom and liberty, it is the duty of the lower level magistrate to oppose such a constitutional infringement.
On the surface, such a theory sounds like a practical check and balance against unbridled state power.
But who will protect the citizens when local authorities rise to the level of a tyrant?
One theologian in particular promoting this viewpoint through his opus “The Doctrine Of The Lesser Magistrate: A Proper Resistance To Tyranny & A Repudiation Of Unlimited Obedience To Civil Government” is Pastor Matthew Trewhella of the Mercy Seat Christian Church in Wisconsin.
In my column titled “Pastor Suggests The Suppression Of Witches”, I referenced a sermon by Rev. Trewhella where he analyzed the Salem With Trials.
The pastor's criticisms were not so much that the Salem Witch Trials went too far but rather that these judicial proceedings probably did not go far enough.
From Trewhella's homily, the listener takes away the impression that practitioners of deviant forms of spirituality and belief such as witchcraft are to be denied permission to meet and congregate under he First Amendment in an America sufficiently Christianized to his liking.
So just how far do these proposed deprivations of liberty extend?
What about Jews?
How about Catholics?
Will any penalties be imposed upon fellow Protestants that adhere to differing interpretations of soteriology or eschatology?
Now that a number of Christian radio programs such as Standing For The Truth hosted by Mike Lemay have more than sufficiently applauded Pastor Matthew Trewhella on the point of his sociopolitical theology that is correct, how about an examination of those aspects where he might be in profoundly dangerous error?
After all, these ministries certainly don't mind tossing aside any of the good accomplished by the likes of Joel Osteen or even a few of the Emergent Church pastors because of where these religious figures have deviated from sound doctrine.
By Frederick Meekins
Friday, January 16, 2015
Faith On The Final Frontier
“The final frontier” --- since the mid 1960’s these words have characterized Star Trek’s perception of the adventure and the discoveries to be found in the distant reaches of outer space. Yet can this vast interstellar ether really be said to be the final frontier in terms of providing an ultimate foundation or purpose? For despite all its wonder, at its core the cosmos is not that much different than ourselves in that its external composition is simply another manifestation or component of the physical universe.
Thus, no matter how far man might one day voyage beyond the confines of the earth, he will still require belief and value systems through which to process and understand the role of the mysteries he is likely to encounter both within the human mind and those external to himself with which he has had little prior experience. Often the fields of science fiction and future studies are used as tools by which to forecast scientific and technological developments. However, in Religion 2101 A.D., Hiley H. Ward shows these speculative methods can be used to gauge the form religion might take in the distant future.
According to Ward, the astounding breakthroughs of the future will force humanity to rethink the most basic of concepts as these will be stretched beyond traditional understandings in light of extraordinary circumstances and conditions. For example, Ward points out that the very concept of what it means to be human might be altered beyond current recognition. With the advent of artificial organs and the possibility of growing replacements in a laboratory, there could come a day when death might be delayed indefinitely.
Many would no doubt embrace existence as a cyborg (an organism half biological and half mechanical in its physiology) if the interchangeability of parts presented the likelihood of staving off the grim reaper as long as possible. Eventually, man might no longer have to endure the inherent limitations of an organic body as range, perception and locomotion could be enhanced by directly interfacing the brain with a computer controlling an array of exploratory robotic sensors (28). In essence, some could live out their lives as a stationary central processing unit while their secondary android bodies simultaneously explored both the depths of the ocean and the peaks of Mars all at the same time.
Ward predicts that these kinds of innovations will spark profound renovations in man’s religious consciousness. Faced with the overwhelming enormity of the universe, man may feel forced to cope with the daunting fruits of this exploration by downplaying his individuality by fully embracing his place as an insignificant cog in a machine. In biological and sociological sciences, this theory is known as “macro life”, the propensity to view the individual in society as analogous to a single cell in an organism (30).
Such a framework places worth and value instead on the overall group as a whole. Ward foresees this prospect taking more concrete expression in the form of a hypothetical spaceship whose command decisions are arrived at by electronically tapping into the thoughts of the crew and melding these divergent consciousnesses into a single imperative authority greater than the sum of the component perspectives. Even though Religion In 2101 AD was published in 1975, this suggestion foreshadowed its fullest development in science fiction in the form of the collective consciousness of the Borg, the cybernetic aliens from Star Trek that perceive themselves as a single entity and who value the individual members of their society as little more than drones. This concept of all taken as a singular mind bears a striking similarity to pantheism in the realm of religious studies.
The diminution of individuality will not necessarily be heralded as a bad thing by those clamoring for its demise if it can be marketed as an elevation in consciousness as an ontological unification with the universal totality. There are few greater ego boosters, after all, than considering oneself God (or at least as some tiny part of the divine intelligence).
Regarding this perception, Ward provides insightful comments from some of science fiction’s most prominent names. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry says, “Man will come to see himself properly as part of God. God is the sum of everything, all intelligence, all order in the universe...It is not inconceivable that as intelligent beings we are part of and ultimately become God, and ultimately create ourselves (Ward 136).” Harlan Ellison, author of I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, adds to this perspective: “I guess I worship man. Each has the seed of God in himself (Ward, 136).”
While the religious philosophy of the future will strive to approach the majesty and wonder of outer realities by turning inward, many adherents of the coming cosmic confession will still feel the traditional need of experiencing the divine through a relationship with or by receiving guidance from what they perceive to be an intelligence or symbol objectively transcendent from themselves. Seldom can man pull himself up by his own metaphysical bootstraps.
But whereas the so-called God of old is seen as standing distinct from His creation but actively sustaining it by His loving hand and revealing His message through angels and prophets and later revealing Himself in the form of His Son Jesus Christ, the God of Tomorrowland will employ different couriers and manifest Himself in ways actually less personable. Erich Von Daniken in Chariots Of The Gods hypothesizes that UFO’s and extraterrestrials may serve as an explanation for the supernatural phenomena occurring in ancient times when these harbingers of universal wisdom appeared bearing enlightenment. Von Daniken does not believe in the traditional conception of a transcendent God. Rather he believes in a God composed of the sum of all knowledge in the universe, of which each individual is an autonomous piece of information akin to a bit within a computer to be reunified into the singular totality once the evolution to a state of pure energy has taken place (Ward, 129).
And speaking of computers, eschatologists might take note of the role of these devices in future religious thought as considered in dramatic speculative literature. One cannot dismiss such claims on the part of the likes of Hal Lindsay or Jack Van Impe as outright exaggeration. In David Gerrold’s When Harlie Was One, the Graphic Omniscient Device (G.O.D.) is a supercomputer capable of solving all problems and answering all questions. In the novel The Fall Of Colossus, Colossus is a computer designed to administer functions on earth and is ultimately deified as part of a new religion. Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling observed, “...with increased dependence of technology, we will find ourselves worshipping at the altar of machines (Ward, 133).”
Ward does an impressive job culling through the religious insights found across an impressive array of objective analytical forecasts and fictional literary accounts. Yet it is in the final chapter where Ward synthesizes the observations found in the preceding study into his own narrative vignette that the reader gets the best feel for where these cultural trends might take humanity in the year 2101 AD. It is at this point the reader becomes most engrossed in the issues under consideration.
In the year 2101, humanity’s major religion is the Church of the Celebration of the Holy World Cosmos whose members are called “Celebrators”. Celebrators strive to embrace all the latest fads in religious thought and philosophy such as panantheism, extraterrestrial wisdom, theories of multiple Christs and avatars, and claim to value harmony and expansive tolerance above all else (Ward, 217).
The Celebrators are opposed by religious traditionalists derisively referred to as “Pewsitters” because of their insistence upon utilizing pews and other ancient religious traditions such as monotheism. The reader would initially suspect the Celebrators to be the heroes of the story since they are depicted as the vanguards of progressivism and enlightenment. However, the church to which they belong is as conniving as the most reactionary of ecclesiastical authorities.
Through an agreement worked out with the government, Celebrators are forbidden from traveling, must be free of political ambitions, and have their minds telepathically scanned to prevent disharmonious thoughts. Pewsitters forced to attend Celebrator services face possible disintegration by a laser beam if they disrupt the proceedings. Despite the facade of technology and innovation surrounding the philosophy of religion underlying much of the science fiction addressing these kinds of questions, man cannot seem to escape his most basic requirements and desires --- no matter how much he might try to suppress them --- regarding his need for a personal God. In Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, God or the “First Speaker” is depicted as a kindly, elderly gentleman who travels the universe helping where he is needed (Ward, 115).
Ward puts his own spin on this concept in his fictional vignette postulating a God dwelling anonymously among humanity as an inconspicuous New York cabbie. Fortunately, the Bible teaches that not only did a loving God come to dwell with men upon the earth in the form of His Son Jesus Christ but that He also provided for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life while He was here through His sacrificial death upon the cross and His resurrection from the dead. If that is not good enough for either the literati of speculative narrative or the mundane realist alike, that is their choice and they must live with the consequences.
When contemplating literary undertakings addressing the philosophy of religion, science fiction with its accompanying connotations of laser guns, rocketships, and creepy aliens does not initially come to mind. However, as Hiley Ward points out in Religion 2101 AD, this particular genre known for stretching the limits of perception can serve as an excellent conceptual mechanism through which to explore intimidating themes of belief we might otherwise be reluctant to approach.
By Frederick Meekins
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
How do I put this without ticking people off or sounding like an apostate. Frankly, sometimes I feel like less of a skeptic after I’ve heard a rank unbeliever rant on about a topic than when I am beaten over the head with all the requirements one is expected to abide by and adhere to if one wants to be considered “sufficiently” Christian.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Apostates Attempt To Hijack The Messiah's Arrival To Whitewash Criminal Mayhem
The email making the suggestion begins, “Advent is a time when sentimentality and spiritualization reigns. But in more ancient forms of Christianity, Advent was more a season of penitence, not unlike Lent. Today, that call for repentance includes a call for justice.”
Interesting enough. Given the ongoing moral decline these days, at times culture could use a dose of a little more guilt and shame. However, individual repentance as understood by the classical Christian or Evangelical is not exactly what the subversives at TransFORM have in mind.
A beloved Yuletide ballad intones “I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.” The types at TransFORM are such outright leftists that, upon hearing such lyrics, they'd probably rend their garments and flagellate themselves while putting on sackcloth and ashes. For you see, despite likely ranking among the palest of the pale as a result of anemia linked no doubt to their vegan diets, they probably don't like being White very much.
The second paragraph of TransFORM's cheery Christmas greeting reads, “This Advent will unfold against the ongoing protests in Ferguson, the results of the ...grand jury report, the ongoing oppression and ending of life by the triple evils of poverty, militarism, and the ceaseless lynching of Christ through black and brown bodies.”
Thus instead of reflecting upon Christ Himself this Christmas season, He is to be replaced by a new messiah. And unlike the original that offered His forgiveness to all who would ask for it irrespective of color, skin pigmentation is about the only thing those speaking on behalf of this racialist godhead care anything about.
Before presenting yourself or someone else as a new Christ, you had best compare yourself to the original and contemplate how what you are offering measures up or falls short.
For example, Jesus was not walking down the middle of the Appian Way when a Roman charioteer simply heralded Him to admonish Him as to the error of His way. Nor did the Messiah reach inside the chariot to pilfer the broadsword and then proceed to bum rush the centurion.
Those attempting to justify the destruction of property as a form of social protest might attempt to respond by comparing such actions to Christ's passionate expulsion of the moneychangers from the Temple. After all, did He not turn over tables and chase the scoundrels with a knotted chord according to John 2:15?
The Temple was the house of God, a representation of where His Spirit dwelt among the people of Israel. As God incarnate in the form of the only Begotten of the Father, the Temple was Christ's to throw out of the structure whomever it was that displeased Him.
In comparison, those committing acts of vandalism and violent sabotage across the nation possess no such legitimate claim to the property which they have so blatantly destroyed. Those were other people's windows smashed and businesses set ablaze.
In the accounts of the Biblical text, Christ condemned those that had turned His house into a house of merchandise. He did not abscond with a bandit's share of loot under the guise of some grandiose pronouncement regarding social justice with some shiny bling and a pair of Air Jordans.
The direct email appeal reads, “...we are inspired by the intersectional justice displayed by Ferguson October and welcome a variety of visions of justice as part of the conversation.”
Worldview thinking postulates that Christian thought as expounded in the pages of the Bible posits a comprehensive understanding that touches upon all facets of existence. If one tugs at one string, all of the others are affected to the point where the entire system could potentially unravel or collapse. This sounds similar to the concept of intersectional justice.
One of the foremost teachings of the Christian faith is that each individual is responsible for his own actions. Outside influences might prod or tempt the person in a particular direction. However, this does not ultimately excuse the actions that an individual might decide to take.
As such, on what Christian grounds does an individual justify destroying the property of someone not even involved in the particular dispute at hand? These beatniks fancying themselves as intellectual revolutionaries will probably drone on about free market economics deploying police power to impose its hegemony and what not upon the backs of the proletariat. But to be considered working class, wouldn't those rampaging in the streets first actually have to work or at least be willing to hoe their own path in life?
Societies are composed ultimately of individuals. It is these that Christ came into the world to shed His blood for, die, and rise from the dead so that each that would call on His name might receive forgiveness for their sins so that they might enjoy eternal life with Him in Heaven.
It is only by addressing the sin in each of our lives --- irrespective of whether we are White, Black, man woman, police officer or civilian --- that there is any hope of ameliorating the problems of a world marred so horribly by the effects of the Fall. Any group that attempts to hijack these festive yet profound celebrations that commemorate this cosmic saga are more than likely in league with the Father of Lies than the Prince of Peace and the Lord of Lords.
By Frederick Meekins
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.
Click On The Headline
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Was It Sin Not To Know Jesus Was In The Nativity At That Time If Only A Few Were Told?
However, should a sermon be formulated in such a way to rhetorically insinuate that everyone else had done something profoundly wrong if God concealed this event from all but a few?
Why are certain hardline Evangelicals this insistent about finding sin in nearly everything?
Isn't the point of these accounts that, in announcing the birth of the Messiah to people as disparate as agricultural laborers and imperial advisors, the Gospel message is for everyone?
It might sound exceedingly pious, but you can't accuse a population of being too preoccupied with their own affairs in terms of complying the Roman census to be concerned about a young woman about to give birth to the most important baby in all history, as this pastor explicates in his homily, if the population is not told exactly who this blessed virgin happens to be?
They didn't exactly have Twitter or post Amber Alerts in those days.
by Frederick Meekins
Tuesday, December 09, 2014
Do Jealous Theologians Bask In The Failure Of Christian Artists?
And what is the point?
Is the truth of an artistic or didactic work to be determined by critics out to advance their own philosophical or religious agendas?
Applying Rosebrough's reasoning to other institutional venues, should a church not be judged by its willingness to stand up for the Gospel but rather by the size of the crowd drawn in Sunday morning?
There was no doubt a time when the influential of Europe condescendingly looked down their noses at the pastor and theologian Rev. Rosebrough identifies with in terms of denominational affiliation.
Should the bold Reformer have quietly taken his seat as well, leaving the issues of his day to be addressed and resolved by more celebrated thinkers and prestigious minds?
There seems to be little way of winning those of Chris Rosebrough's perspective.
He is correct in much of his analysis that a spirit of entertainment has penetrated the operational procedures of how many churches function.
But Cameron is not necessarily plying his craft solely in a the formalized ecclesiastical setting in which Lutherans of Rosebrough's variety insist the form and order of service cannot veer from its highly ordered and regulated nature.
Kirk Cameron will likely never be an historical figure on par with Martin Luther ushering humanity into whole new epochs of understanding where the very relationships between the individual, church, and God are reevaluated in light of reconsidered Scriptural evidence.
However, shouldn't these Christian leaders that bemoan the lack of a Christian influence throughout the arts be a bit more supportive when a fellow believer attempts to burst the epistemological shackles that were often put in place by fellow ministers imposing a misdirected brand of piety to begin with?
By Frederick Meekins
DC’s Broadcast Golden Age
But DC has done the better job of transitioning their properties to the small screen where the characters can be developed better than in big screen movies.
The art form was perfected with Smallville.
There is now Arrow, Gotham , and the Flash.
Saw posted today that Teen Titans is in development.
It sounds like Syfy Channel has picked up the Krypton series and a Supergirl series is set to take off soon on CBS.
I’ve yet to see Constantine.
Horror has it’s place.
It's just not my favorite.
With ondemand available over cable, it is a challenge to keep tabs on everything.
Monday, December 08, 2014
Santa Not The Only One Throwing His Weight Around At Christmas
At the end of each broadcast, Bill O'Reily concludes with what the correspondent considers common sense advice.
On the 12/1/14 episode, he suggested that viewers not wish their non-Christian friends a “Merry Christmas” but instead a more non-sectarian platitude.
If such people are to remain so prickly despite knowing your particular preferences in terms of religious and holiday matters that they can't humor you, are such people really your friends?
It's not like the greeting is enunciated as some kind of religious identity test the way that ISIS conducts impromptu Koranic quizzes for the purposes of singling victims out for execution.
What's so wrong with wishing non-Christians a “Merry Christmas”?
Do those belonging to another faith think they'd fair better off should Jesus had never come?
Secular scholars always make a fuss how much tolerance and leeway Rome gave to populations subjugated willingly.
But that world power was particularly brutal to those that did not, particularly those insistent that their loyalty to God outweighed any that might be owed to earthly authorities.
A pastor opposed to Christmas insisted that Christians ought not to have anything to do with the day because of the widespread carnality that often takes place at that time despite many of the participants feeling holier overall because of the religious meaning attached to the festival.
But isn't that more the fault of the individual that decides to celebrate the occasion in that manner?
The pastor continued that he also opposed Christmas because the holiday does not deliver the joy and happiness that it promises.
But isn't the same true regarding nearly everything else in life?
Applying these same reasons, wouldn't it also follow that organized religion, and especially services conducted on weekends, should be avoided as well?
For do not many that attend these also think that by doing so that they have kindled special favor with God for having done so and, though few will admit it, they really did not have as good of a time as they claim they did in order to retain good standing with the group?
By Frederick Meekins
Tyler Perry productions are often marketed as quality (even family friendly) entertainment. In a preview for some film featuring Perry's transvestite character Medea, comedian Larry the Cable Guy remarks something like did you hear the one about the two Black dudes and the rabbi. Medea remarks to Larry The Cable Guy did you hear about the Redneck shot for telling the one about the two Black dudes and the rabbi. Would a White producer be heralded and acclaimed like Tyler Perry if the punchline of a skit was a White character threatening to shoot a Black one over something that the White character considered to be off color?
Hatemonger Honored At Funeral Of DC Luminary
Just days before, this Afrosupremacist demagogue delivered a tirade insinuating threats of racial violence and terrorism.
This is a testament to the extent to which DC political elites despise White people.
Mind you, these are some of the same people that would in other circumstances insist that Paula Deen should be financially ruined for what was said in the privacy of her own home following a traumatic experience and that the name of the Washington Redskins must be changed to comply with politically correct sensitivities.
Thursday, December 04, 2014
In remarks before the House of Representatives, a number of congressional members enunciated in reference to the Ferguson grand jury verdict and following upheaval the mantra “No justice, no peace”. Would these elected officials be as sympathetic to violence and destruction if such mayhem was instead carried out in the halls of the Capitol by thieving hordes rather than inflicted upon the property owners of Midwestern hamlet in question?
Observations Regarding The National Christmas Tree Lighting
At the National Christmas Tree lighting, Obama failed to name “the child” that we celebrate this time of year.
Is he deluded into thinking that the story refers to himself?
At events commemorating Islamic occasions, does Obama also stumble over himself linguistically in the attempt to avoid mentioning the name of that world religion and its founder as he did at the National Christmas Tree Lighting?
Obama pointed out that young WOMENNNN used their coding skills to program the digitized Christmas trees on the Ellipse in Washington.
Is there a reason why possessing a penis excluded youngsters from participating in this opportunity?
by Frederick Meekins
Did The People Or Elites Decide In Favor Of Gay Marriage?
But is that entirely accurate?
For did not voters in these states initially enact prohibitions against this practice?
Therefore, on what grounds is the average American responsible when leaders at the highest levels of government overturn the electorally expressed will of the people?
There is only so much that the average person can do.
Chuck Crismier is both an attorney and a theologian.
However, others might have different areas in which they are expected to minister.
For example, is it not perhaps even more important for parents to model loving marriages and family behavior in the lives of their children rather than to neglect these relationships through an all-encompassing activism?
Getting these priorities out of order will do more to spread this form of social decay faster than an out of control judiciary ever could.
By Frederick Meekins
Homicidal Policing More The Outgrowth Of Contemporary Liberalism
Liberals create a situation where the selling of unlicensed cigarettes is an offense worthy of fatal police intervention and the statists applaud the continual expansion of government power.
These related perspectives then apparently blame certain varieties of conservatism when it is caught on tape how the totalist state actually plays itself out on the streets and in people's lives.
Obama can't chicken excrement his way out of this one.
Obese cigarette vendors are exactly the ones that have no place in the President's version of utopia.
One shouldn't resist arrest.
However, these bureaucrats are often clearly intoxicated on their own sense of self importance these days.
You are about accused of causing a disturbance at the DMV if you raise your voice for the purposes of being heard over the background roar of this anteroom of Ghenna to get your point across to the witless functionaries attempting not to apply the procedures as they are actually written and who can barely speak audible English.