fundamentalism by blunt instrument
First, one from Paige Patterson on the current state of the SBC with some interesting insights for fundamentalists — Of grinches, goblins, gremlins and ghosts, from the May 6 Baptist Press.
Second, one from Alan Jacobs, professor of English at Wheaton, taking a slap at the so-called “Evangelical Manifesto” — Come On, You Call This a Manifesto?, appearing in the Wall Street Journal.
A few thoughts and quotes below:
Star Trek’s Dr. McCoy had a Tricorder device that was able to diagnose almost any physical condition. It may not yet appear in your doctor’s office, but NASA is working on a device that may be able to discern what’s bugging you:
“Ultimately we want to provide cartridges for all kinds of micro-organisms and chemical compounds,” says Morris. “We’d even like to be able to use our system to figure out what ‘bug’ an astronaut has if he or she becomes ill.”
Lisa Monaco, LOCAD project scientist, adds her vision of the future: “What we are developing at MSFC has use not only on the ISS, but also on lunar missions, long duration stays on other planets, and most certainly here on Earth.”
In the years ahead, as space voyages become longer and longer, it will be even more imperative to have ways of checking astronauts’ health and monitoring electronics. For the record, no astronaut has ever become seriously ill on any space mission. However, the scientists point out that if an astronaut did ever get sick, it would take too much time to send a sample back to Earth, have it tested, and receive a long-distance answer. With next-generation LOCAD technologies, detection and diagnosis would be quick, easy, and on the spot.
Dr. McCoy, here we come.
Emphasis mine.
Just one of those cool things going on at NASA.
Read the whole article for the current state of the project.
at the Billy Graham Library…
Corny? You bet.
I am quite astonished, actually, at the way the display starts at the library. To each his own, I suppose. It just seems quite out of keeping with the purpose and general professionalism of the whole exhibit.
In our recent trip south, we flew in and out of Charlotte, NC, home of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Billy Graham Library. We had a little time at our disposal Tuesday afternoon and the admission is free, so we decided to take the exhibit in.
The exhibit itself consists of some 13 or so galleries, some with video, audio, or slide presentations, each done up to portray various aspects of Billy Graham’s ministry over the years. Without a doubt, Billy Graham is an influential man and worthy of our attention, even though we are critical of his philosophy and methods.
My family and I were in Greenville, SC, last Saturday for the graduation of my daughter from BJU. On Sunday, I preached at Faith Baptist Church in Linville, NC, pastored by my son’s father-in-law, my friend Brad Calhoun.
I repeated my message from Feb 3 concerning The Ministry of Christians to One Another and taught a lesson condensing our recent two part study on the nature of Christian fellowship. I also preached a new message based on the study of fellowship entitled “Partners Together with God” (audio not available).
We had a blessed time in this mountain church. The people of the church greeted us warmly and are faithfully working to build up a testimony for the Lord in a small mountain community.
In the meantime, back in Victoria, our pulpit was very ably supplied by Pastor Tom Nieman, retired pastor from Kent, WA. Pastor Nieman is a stalwart in the Northwest, a key leader among the FBF men in our area. I very much appreciate his ministry. The first message he preached for our people was one I heard him preach at our FBF meeting in February. I requested that he preach it again here. The links and summaries follow, although I think I need to edit the audio for volume (a little experimentation with our new digital recording software is in order).
In our pastor’s absence, Tom Nieman, retired former pastor of Galilee Baptist Church, Kent, WA, filled our pulpit.
This message is a masterful survey of the theme of God’s glory through the Scriptures. It is well worth your consideration and meditation. May the glory of the Lord truly come!
Pastor Nieman continues as our pulpit supply today. This message is a discussion of the authority of men vs. the authority of the Word of God.
Pastor Tom Nieman continues in pulpit supply with a message concerning our riches in Jesus Christ.
~~~
I’ll have a few more posts shortly. I saw several interesting things in my last week of travels that I’d like to point out to you all. But now it is off to a Bible study on our first day home.
“All too often we have attacked the evils and injustices of others,” they wrote, “while we have condoned our own sins.” They write, “we must reform our own behavior.”
Read the CT blog here. Usual disclaimers apply.
A post from Lighthouse Trails points out that the BGC magazine contains an article advocating mystical, yoga-like contemplative prayer, including pictures of yoga-like meditation poses. The BGC is the Baptist General Conference, the denomination of you know who…
The late Dr. Walter Fremont of Bob Jones University, well-beloved by his students and those who knew him, had a few good things to say from time to time. An article from a BJU publication, Balance, is available on the BJU Press web-site: Genuine Christians Can Make a Difference.
Dr. Fremont lists five important influences in a declining culture:
A couple of fellows from our local area found this monster from the deep blue sea washing itself up on the beach.
It’s a Pacific longnose lancetfish, usually inhabiting a depth of 1.8 km, one of God’s wonderful creations.
Read the whole story here.
Just thought that was kind of cool…
I’d like to draw your attention to the subject of Christian fellowship. In my view, the subject is largely misunderstood these days. Many mean ‘having coffee with my Christian friends’ (substitute any other kind of social activity for ‘having coffee’ — that works too).
Champ Thornton at EX vilis CATHEDRA stirred my thinking on this subject with his post: “Together for What?”. I prepared two Bible study lessons from that beginning which can be found by following the links here and here.
At the outset, let me say I have nothing against ‘having coffee with my Christian friends’. You can even leave out the ‘with my Christian friends’ part! I often tell people that coffee is a Baptist distinctive: “True Baptists drink coffee … confirmed Baptists drink it black.”
But seriously, the subject of Christian fellowship involves much more than social interaction (and can be devoid of social interaction entirely).
Today marks a new era in our church… we are fully digital in our recording. Hopefully this will make for better quality in the sound. We are also able to put the messages up much quicker than before. Our afternoon service let out just over an hour ago, and our messages are on the web. Now for a nap!
But first, here are our summaries:
Having come to the end of Rm 1.17, we gave this morning to review of our work through Romans this far. Six months of preaching, 24 messages, and 17 verses…
The central idea of this message is that you must accept the credentials and message of the apostle Paul in order to have the gospel at all. Paul introduces himself, his plan, and his message in these verses. For the content to benefit the Romans (or any one) in any way, the whole must be accepted by repentant faith.
In which we continue our look at Angelology, concluding last week’s study on the existence of angels and also discussing the creation of angels.
Our survey of the Lord’s teaching on prayer brings us to the Transfiguration. Luke tells us Jesus prayed as he was transfigured. The purpose of this prayer was a matter of training for the disciples, correcting their misapprehension of his new teaching concerning his death, burial, and resurrection. Our prayers are likewise a means of discipleship, as praying according to the Scriptures we are drawn closer to heaven and heaven is drawn closer to us.
The latest audio from the GBCvic
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