Book Blog

Anyone interested in buying books please check my new book blog located at Integrity Book Buys.
In addition, you can also visit our Amazon book store here.

Also, my blog has moved, for the time being, to sosipater.wordpress.com

Thanks!

New Cyber Crib

Friends, Romans, Countrymen,

This is probably premature as I am still tweaking, but my blog will be/has moved to a new home on the internet. Blogger has been good to me, and who knows? Maybe one day I will be back, but for the time being I'm going to hang my hat over at Wordpress.

My blogs new site is:

www.sosipater.wordpress.com
Come on over!

Blogger Trades Paper Clip for a House

Say what you want about Kyle MacDonald, but he is an enterprising guy.

Going Out

Friends,

I have been remiss to ask you to pray for a couple of friends of mine who are on short term mission trips. One has been there a couple of weeks, another left yesterday. They are Robb and Colleen. Please visit their blogs and join us in prayer for their trips.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Russ

Value of Life

The June 28th commentary by Dr. Mohler discusses a chilling article by Anne Lamott. You can read it here. I don't know if you could find a more striking example of the antithesis between a Christian worldview and a non-Christian worldview. This seems to be the cultural issue of our age: human value/dignity and the right of our creator to give and take life by His providential plan. What makes this even more tragic is the fact that Ann Lamott considers herself a Christian. Who's fault is that? I would suggest it is the Church's fault.

After reading this article how would you tackle this issue? Do you want to wage war against cultural elites like Ms. Lamott, or would you like to explain to her why she is not thinking as a Christian, since that is her self description of herself? Can we do both simultaneously?

Lets get introspective. If we confess to believe that all humans are made in the image of God, are we living our lives and treating every single other person we meet with that understanding? Should we be?

QOD

The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"This gave me occasion to observe, that when Men are employ'd
they are best contented. For on the Days they work'd they were
good-natur'd and chearful; and with the consciousness of having
done a good Days work they spent the Evenings jollily; but on the
idle Days they were mutinous and quarrelsome, finding fault with
their Pork, the Bread, and in continual ill-humour."

-- Benjamin Franklin (Autobiography, 1771)

Reference: Franklin: Writings, Lemay, ed., Library of America
(1447)

Toward a Biblical/Kingdom Focused Worldview

I have not blogged in over a week. Couple of reasons for that. Been very busy, and haven't found anything really interesting to blog about. Well, both changed a little today, so here's what I have to offer.

If you are interested in developing a Biblical Worldview, which involves so much more than just having your doctrine right (you need to have it right, there is just more to it than that), then you need to check out these two articles by Anthony Bradley. Here they are, with intro paragraphs to wet your appetite.



Toward A Missional Worldview: Remembering the Kingdom

The Kingdom of God is a central theme in the preaching of Jesus and, by extension, the preaching and teaching of the apostles. Theological liberalism has emphasized the kingdom while leaving behind Jesus' mission and call to obedience and discipleship. Many evangelicals while having great passion for the church and mission often forsake the forest for the trees and loose full implications of the gospel into their local culture. A missional worldview orients all of one's life toward the kingdom (Matt 6:33) and ignites Jesus followers into radical living here and now.

Toward A Missional Worldview: Creation, the Imago Dei, and BMWs

Nature is good. Being human is good. Work is good. Rest is good. Culture is good. Sexuality, making babies, and having a family is really good. In fact, everything that God created is very, very good (1 Tim 4:4-5). A missional worldview implores Jesus followers to engage all of life reflecting what God intends for his world (Col 3:23) and to invite others to do the same (Acts 17, Psalm 34:1-8). Every Jesus follower is to show the world what being united with Jesus looks like. Since all of life is spiritual, a missional Church calls all people to live all of life as they ought.

Let us do both. Let us tell and show the world what it is to be a Christian.

Patterson & Mohler De-scussion over Election

Patterson, Mohler: Calvinism shouldn’t divide SBC

I found the last two paragraphs by Dr. Patterson interesting.

Patterson urged Southern Baptists not to follow the example of the English Baptists who divided over the issue. After the split, those who held to limited atonement (the particular Baptists) became "anti-missionary and anti-evangelistic," while those who held to general atonement (the General Baptists) emphasized doctrine so little that they "became universalists," Patterson said.

“The splitting of the two did them no favors and pushed them in opposite directions that were very unfortunate,” he said. "… If we allow Satan to have his way, we'll divide up over it, as we certainly should not," Patterson said.

What sayeth ye?

Distressing thoughts for a new Dad of a Daughter

Even though my daughter is not even 4 months old yet, my wife and I have already had a conversation about our daughter's college education, if she chooses to go that route. My initial reaction to that thought process is...I have been to college, know what the college culture is like, and don't want my daughter anywhere near a brazenly secular post-secondary instituion.

After reading Hookup Culture, Biblical Patriarchy, and Campus Ministry by Russell Moore, my initial response seemed to be a good one. Rest assured, while I am no fan of anything Duke related, the environment and attitudes of the students there are not drastically different from college students all over this country, at least that is my conclusion. While reading this article my heart sank as I processed the thought that every woman at every college is some daddy's little girl. As Dr. Moore stated, the clarion call here as a Christian man is to be a Christian father and husband, to raise my daughter as a Christian woman, and to promote this attitude and dedication to family calling as of the utmost import to our current generation of moms and dads, for our next generation of Christian men and women.

SBC Politics

Calvinist pastor, Georgia evangelist likely to square off as 1st VP nomination
By Robert Marus

QOD

The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"There are certain social principles in human nature, from
which we may draw the most solid conclusions with respect to the
conduct of individuals and of communities. We love our families
more than our neighbors; we love our neighbors more than our
countrymen in general. The human affections, like solar heat,
lose their intensity as they depart from the centre... On these
principles, the attachment of the individual will be first and
for ever secured by the State governments. They will be a mutual
protection and support."

-- Alexander Hamilton (speech at the New York Ratifying Convention,
June 1788)

Reference: The Works of Alexander Hamilton, Henry Cabot Lodge,
ed., II, 70.

Colorado "Christian" Rockies?

Ya'll have really got to check out this article in USA Today. The title is "Team's rebuilding effort focuses on Christianity, character", By Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY.

I'll have to admit, I have not kept up with professional baseball too much in the last few years, but I have never heard this before about the Rockies organization. Sounds like I am not the only one. Here is a teaser from the article.

Music filled with obscenities, wildly popular with youth today and in many other clubhouses, is not played. A player will curse occasionally but usually in hushed tones. Quotes from Scripture are posted in the weight room. Chapel service is packed on Sundays. Prayer and fellowship groups each Tuesday are well-attended. It's not unusual for the front office executives to pray together.

Is this it. Are the postmillenials right and the golden age has started, at Coor's Field? I guess crazier, much crazier, things could happen. Is this a good thing? Bad thing? Little of both? What do you think???

Justin Martyr and How Early Christians Worshipped

Here is a very interesting short article with and exerpt from the Early Church Father (ECF) Justin Martyr's book "First Apology" (155 A.D.). The article is titled "How the Early Christians Worshipped."


You can click here for a brief bio on Justin Martyr.

Govenor Roy Moore???

Here is a link to a very interesting article on former Alabama State Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore. Here are some snippets I thought were interesting.

"When they don't understand that it wasn't about a monument, or the Ten Commandments, or disobedience of a federal court order, but about obedience to the U.S. Constitution and the acknowledgment of God which cannot be prohibited by any authority, then when you get that message out, you can go to the platform, [and] they start to see that."

"Every function of government is related" to the acknowledgment of God, he says. "For example, an understanding of God leads to an understanding of the fallen nature of man, which leads to the separation of powers, checks and balances. . . . Then you understand why judges can't make law, and legislators can't enforce law, and the executives can't put themselves above the law."

His arguments for limited government portray this political philosophy as the only one for those who believe in God. He quotes Jefferson: " 'Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.' Now that had a meaning back in 1700 which is true today. Tyrants are those who put [themselves] above the law of God and become all-powerful. They control everything--your life, your liberty, your pursuit of happiness. In this country, those things are given by God and government is there to secure them."

Can more than one deity, I ask, be held in official esteem in America? Not if religious tolerance is to be maintained, Mr. Moore argues: "The Judeo-Christian God is the one that gives religious liberty. The Muslim God, Allah, does not give religious liberty. If you want to prove that, go to Saudi Arabia and lift up your Bible on a street corner, and you'll find out what the Muslim God--they say--dictates.
"They dictate a form of worship through the government, and that's what their God mandates--they say. Our God does not mandate that at all. . . . Our God says that that freedom is between you and me, not you and government. That's the big difference. . . . And that's exactly why Muslims and Buddhists and others are free to worship [here] the way they want, not dictated by government."

Memorial Day this Monday

This is a good article about how to instill a sense of awareness in our children of what Memorial Day is all about. Interesting fact from the article is that the tradition of Memorial Day started as a way to remember those who fought, from both sides, in the so called "Civil War".

Not Just a Day Off: Remembering Our Fallen on Memorial Day.

Pat Robertson Leg Presses 2000 lbs ???

You are not going to believe this.

Da Vinci Response Part 2

A Christian Response to "The Da Vinci Code": What's the Attraction? (Part 2) by Dr. Albert Mohler

QOD

The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this
ground that 'all powers not delegated to the United States, by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to
the states or to the people.' To take a single step beyond the
boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress,
is to take possession of a boundless field of power, not longer
susceptible of any definition."

-- Thomas Jefferson (Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National
Bank, 15 February 1791)

Reference: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Boyd, ed., vol. 19 (276)

Post Da Vinci Release

It's Not Just a Movie, It's a Revelation (About the Audience)

More Code Breakers

With all the hubbub of the Davinci Code film releasing today I thought these two articles by Dr. Mohler would help some of us be able to discuss the issues confidently with those we come into contact with. I would be interested in any thoughts of how you think Christians should respond to movies such as this and the issues that are raised.

About the book:
Deciphering 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dr. Albert Mohler.

About the movie:
A Christian Response to "The DaVinci Code": What’s the Problem? By Dr. Albert Mohler