The Church is the Temple

James Jordan expounds on the Church:
I think a watershed in our  understanding of the Epistles is what kind of context we put them into. To  be crass about it (I intend no insult; I just want to get on with it): Either
1. The apostolic church started from scratch after the OT order  was cancelled, [...]

Free Music!!!

I found a cool site today: www.noisetrade.com
They essentially offer “fair trade” music in exchange for a donation that you seem worthy or for telling 5 friends. I just downloaded an album that would have otherwise cost me $15 for telling 5 friends. Anyhow, go check it out!!!

Joel 2:18-27 Rick Hogaboam Sermon “Jealous God = Glad People”

Here is a pdf file: Joel 2.18t27 jealous god equals glad people
Text pasted below.
Joel 2:18-27 “Jealous God = Glad People”
Joel 2:18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.
Joel 2:19 The Lord answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and [...]

Obama, Sotomayor, & the liberal double standard

The unfortunate double standard used by democrats is shameful.  They will constantly use this against the conservatives.  I will admit there are probably some in the conservative group who are prejudice but doesn’t mean ALL are.  That is just a lie they want you to believe.
Now that the republicans face a nomination, in which they [...]

Countdown to Pentecost Sunday: Pentecostals, Greatest Global Movement?

Time magazine had recently cited the “New Calvinism” as one of the most important ideas in the world. While I am excited about such as a Calvinist myself, I was somewhat surprised by the omission of Pentecostalism.
Jenkins calls Pentecostalism,“the most successful social movement of the past century” (Jenkins 2002:8). Jenkins, P. (2002) The Next Christendom: [...]

Countdown to Pentecost Sunday:”Teaching a Calvinist to Dance” by James K.A. Smith

Professor at Calvin College, James K.A. Smith, offers some thoughts on how Reformed theology and Pentecostal practice complement each other. BTW, the picture on the left is that of a dancing Abraham Kuyper (Dutch Calvinistic Giant). Link at Christianity Today here.
You will find this less academic, more biographical, and perhaps a bit challenging devotionally. Also, [...]

Countdown to Pentecost Sunday Readings: Robert Menzies, “Luke’s Understanding of Baptism in the Holy Spirit”

As we march towards Pentecost Sunday on May 31, 2009, I will offer some daily resources that will be academic, pastoral, and devotional in nature. This work here is academic in nature, but will be very helpful for all Evangelicals to better understand Reformed and Pentecostal approaches to the Holy Spirit, as well as to [...]

Tedashii “Identity Crisis” Album Review

Tedashii’s Album “Identity Crisis” Review
Track 2, I Work
-          Good song about the life of a Christian in general and as a rapper in particular. “I sweat, I work, I grind” is the chorus…its all about laboring in vocation for God’s glory. Tedashii encourages the believer to press in against the world and Satan, and all [...]

Down syndrome & challenges of finding love

I just read a disgusting story of an adoptive mom who is desperately seeking sexual experiences for her down syndrome son. Read story here.  I find this notion so utterly offensive.  I’m a mom of a down syndrome teenager and for that mom to insist that for her son to be and feel normal is [...]

Remembering Ralph Winter

Ralph Winter passed away to be with the Lord He so diligently and zealously served…the Lord for which He sought to increase the purchase of His ransom in the call to mobilize missionaries, etc. His edited book, “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement”, was one of the most influential books I [...]

Quotable by John Gill on Prayer…Is he speaking of tongues???

You will find the quotes below….notice the part in bold text, which sound surprisingly similar to the “prayer language” glossolalia that some Pentecostal/Charismatic folks advocate.

1. Take notice of the various sorts of prayer, which will lead on to that; for there is a praying with all prayer, which denotes many sorts and kinds of prayer.
1a. [...]

Quotable from Charles Hodge on Prayer

Hodge also preached on prayer as a means of communion with God. Prayer in his view can be solemn and formal “in the use of articulate words and on set occasions in the closet, family or sanctuary” or it can be ejaculatory “and thus constant as the bubbling of a spring of living water” or [...]

Happy Ascension Day!!!

Ascension Day often gets overlooked, but it is a most glorious truth that we celebrate today…the risen, exalted Christ, reigning from on high, expanding His kingdom and subdoing His enemies.

John Polkinghorne on “The Nature of Science”

That’s the title of the second chapter of his book One World: The Interaction of Science and Theology (2007, originally 1986).  He argues that the triumphal view that science comprehends the universe with complete objectivity is false, just as the postmodern critiques of science as a purely social phenomenon that depends only on the judgment of the [...]

Rising numbers of ProLifers

Newest gallup poll in May 2009 shows an increase of pro-lifers in America @ 51% of Americans calling themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42% “pro-choice. I just wonder if these same people who consider themselves pro-life also deem it so important that they vote accordingly?  Or is it one of those, “well, [...]

ShamWow towels (& weird infomercial guy) disappoints

Some of you may know that the guy that does the commercial for those infamous orange towels that claim to pick up an ocean of liquid w/o any effort, y’know the one with the spikey hair, hyper, yeah, him.  So, I found out he was arrested and charged with battery a few months back.  Apparently, [...]

“Taken” Movie Review

Spoiler Alert:
Briefly, the movie was decent…6/10…Liam Nelson shows some physical skills that I have yet to see in any of his other roles. He does suprisingly well in the overplayed “angry vengful dad recovering kidnapped kid” role.
The movie does highlight what is a very real human trafficking problem and gives some [...]

Peter Berger on Globalization and Religion

I listened to Speaking of Faith program (transcript and audio here) from 2006 today that talked about how globalization has impacted religion.  You might be familiar with the rather Eurocentric thesis that said that secularism would accompany modernization, just as it had in Europe.  In fact, sociologist Peter Berger held this view as well, before [...]

Joel 2:12-17 “Tear Up Your Hearts”

Joel 2:12-17 “Tear Up Your Hearts”
Joel 2.12t17 tear your hearts up
Joel 2:12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Joel 2:13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to [...]

Ben Gifford for U.S. Congress in 2010

Ben Gifford, a former classmate at South Torrance High School who had a canon of an arm at catcher and older brother of fallen soldier Micah Gifford, is preparing to run for U.S. Congress in California for 2010. You can access his Facebook page here.
Here is his bio:
Marine, Father, American, Christian, Iraq and Afghanistan vet.
 
Brother [...]

Remembering Micah Gifford

http://iraq.pigstye.net/article.php/GiffordMicah

I just found out that my old classmate was killed in Iraq. His older brother, Ben, is running for US Senate in California and it was in reading Ben’s bio that I saw mention of his departed brother.
Micah was a center on the Calle Mayor Junior High football team while I [...]

Teens for Life. Encourage your teen to get involved!

How cool is it that our youth have the courage to stand up for what’s right – right to life!  Teens for Life

“My Chance”, a pro-life song

http://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/April09/nv041309part2.html – an article about the artist/singer- Jamie Thietten
the video-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VROBmaeBdNE

Follow the yellow… patches of grass?

Ok, so aside from my mistakenly bad judgement of spraying our yards with weed killer at night when I couldn’t see well, other parts of our backyard is looking a bit like we’ve been warped into Oz where we would NOT be frollicking on the yellow brick road, er… I mean yellow patches of dead [...]

ACLU, out to get you!

Does the ACLU have nothing better to do than interfere with every city/state’s every litigation?  I mean really!  Last year in 08, our locaI library board voted against keeping a “pornographic”, aka, “mature” sexual books out of easy reach of the public, mainly for the protection of children.   Then the complaints came in from [...]

Mars ILL “Sound Off”

Alright fresh off my hip-hop review, I thought I’d throw up some videos of my fav artists. This is Mars ILL’s “Sound Off”. Enjoy!!!

Review of Beat Rabbi’s “Deep Space 5oul” & The Scribbling Idiots’ “Have Nots”

I had a chance to hang with Jae Choi for a couple days while in Spokane. He is an awesome cat, who helps with ministry at Christ The Redeemer Church in Spokane, AND is an owner of Illect Records, which is a hip-hop label. For those who don’t know, I am a big hip-hop fan. [...]

Making Mother’s day last

For those of you who take joy in celebrating mother’s day, may I encourage you to appreciate your mother/sister/gramma on an ongoing basis?  Should our appreciation for our moms shine one day a year?  We should intentionally acknowledge this day, this occasion more than once a year.  Let her know how much you love her.
Just [...]

Slumdog Millionaire, 4/5*

So we got our last free Monday rental from the Redbox, likely b/c they realized their lure wasn’t working and losing money in turn.  Oh well.  We’re thankful for all previous free movies.  Thanks Redbox!
Our (my husby and I) movie time is usually when kids go to bed & all our ends are tight and [...]

Proverbs 31:10-31 “A Woman Who Fears the Lord”

I have pasted below my sermon outline from 5.10.09. I am also attaching a pdf copy here: Proverbs 31.10t31 a woman who fears the Lord

Here is a link to the audio: “A Woman Who Fears the Lord“
 
Proverbs 31 “A Woman Who Fears the Lord”
A History of Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day, in one form or another, has [...]