Saturday, January 16, 2010

The only safe guide

“An individual man or woman must never follow conviction in regard to moral, religious, civil, or political questions until they are first tested by the unerring word of God. If a conviction infringes upon the written word of God, or in any manner conflicts with that word, the conviction is not to be followed. It is our duty to abandon it. Moreover, I will add that light on a doubtful conviction is not to be sought for in the conscience, but in the Bible. The conscience, like the conviction, may be blind, erroneous, misled, or perverted; therefore it is not always a safe guide. The only safe guide for a man or woman, young or old, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, priest or people is the Bible, the whole Bible, nothing but the Bible.”

—Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne (1811-1893), from his memoirs, Recollections of Seventy Years (pp. 233-234), written in 1888.

Friday, January 08, 2010

Afraid of the Holy Spirit?

Is your conception of the Holy Spirit too safe? Dan Edelen writes,

When the Holy Spirit shows up in power in a church, the status quo changes. Those people especially touched by Him, ones who were often sideline sitters, suddenly are empowered to take on new roles and responsibilities within the body of Christ. The old ways of doing church fall into line with God’s way. Distracting programs and costly plans end up abandoned. Miracles happen. The charismatic gifts break out. And on and on.

And that threatens a lot of people. Especially those in charge.
Read the entire article here.

The Smaller You Get, the Freer You Will Be

Tullian Tchividjian writes:

Interestingly, the world would have us to believe that the bigger we get and the better we feel about ourselves, the freer we become. This is why so many worship services have been reduced to nothing more than motivational, self-help seminars filled with “you can do it” songs and sermons. But what we find in the gospel is just the opposite. The gospel is good news for losers, not winners. It’s for those who long to be freed from the slavery of believing that all of their significance, meaning, purpose, and security depend on their ability to “become a better you.” The gospel tells us that weakness precedes usefulness—that, in fact, the smaller you get, the freer you will be.
Read the entire article here.

In Defense of Proselytism

Trevin Wax writes the following:

The furor surrounding Brit Hume’s encouragement to Tiger Woods to convert to Christianity shows us that the prevailing sentiment of our culture is adamantly opposed to the idea of evangelism.

As Christians, we must recognize that before we can make a robust defense for the Christian faith, we may have to clear the air by making a case for evangelism in general. After having listened to some of the remarks made about Brit Hume, I have compiled a list of common objections to “proselytism” and why each of them are unpersuasive.
Read the entire article here.

Thursday, January 07, 2010

“Jesus Christ offers Tiger Woods something that Tiger Woods badly needs”

Like I mentioned in my last post, I don’t have cable TV, and I’ve also not been following other blogs too closely the last few days. Evidently, however, what Brit Hume said about Tiger Woods and the Christian faith has sparked some controversy (no surprise there!). Check out this clip from Bill O’Reilly’s interview of Brit Hume:



Whether people like it or not, Brit Hume is right: What Tiger Woods, and every other human being on this planet, needs is the Lord Jesus!

Monday, January 04, 2010

Brit Hume on Tiger Woods

My family and I don’t have access to cable TV, and so I don’t see these shows, but I came across this clip on the web. Has anyone else seen this? I think what Brit Hume said was pretty remarkable. Watch this clip:

Friday, January 01, 2010