I Read the Comments

I don’t have a lot of interaction with Twitter but I am on it and sometimes scroll through the feed of people and pages that I follow. There was an ad from the Ark Encounter, linking to an article about which type of cubit Noah used (a royal cubit is a little bit longer than what we typically think of as a cubit, around 20 or 21 inches). I made the mistakes of reading the comments. However you feel about a global flood or Old Testament historical accounts aside; there were hundreds of comments about how it doesn’t matter what he used because there was never an ark/never a global flood/the ark should have been a box not a boat/foolish Christians that believe in fairytale stories and such like. There was not one defender of the faith or Christian apologist in the multitude.

Weighing Patriotism Against Idolatry

I hate taking an extreme all or nothing position on anything. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. That’s just about the only total extreme I’m willing to stand by. Polarization on just about every other issue does more harm than good.

I read a tweet on Sunday afternoon that said if your church service is 4th of July themed that’s idolatry. I’m sorry I don’t know who posted it. I did not save it because I had no idea I would be coming back to it but now I can’t shake it. Anything can be taken to an unhealthy extreme. It is common for believers in our culture to get their strong feelings about Christianity and America mixed together. The image of a cross decorated with stars and stripes makes me a little twitchy. I can hear Michael Spencer screaming in my head. But just about every church I’ve ever been a part of has an American flag, and usually a Christian flag, in the sanctuary. Some would claim that displaying a flag in church or pledging allegiance to the flag – anywhere – is not something Christians can not do with a clear conscience. Our pledge and oath should be to Christ and no other. That is extreme at the other end of the spectrum. As is true with most things I’m more comfortable somewhere in the middle that at either far end.

National Day of Prayer 2023

The Rome Area Prayer Breakfast celebrated 30 years with author and speaker Lee Strobel. He was last in Rome when researching his book The Case for Faith.

Chad, Chris, Trudy and Lee

No, I’m not on a first name basis with any of these individuals. Maybe Chris McDaniel but he probably wouldn’t know my first name without a reminder.

On April first I attended the annual Wild Game Supper at a local Baptist church. This was my second dinner, we got to see Sid Bream last year and won a sweet door prize. I mentioned Chadd Wright in Saturday’s post. He is a former Navy Seal with a passion for sharing the Gospel. He spent very little time talking about Seal teams and telling old stories and gave much attention to describing what Jesus can do in a person’s life. Chris McDaniel, formerly of Confederate Railroad, led music and has a powerful testimony of what God has done in his own life. Chris performed last year with Bream and I first met him at a much smaller event with just a few people during the pandemic era of social distancing and what not. It was a weird time. There was one salvation Saturday evening and Chadd took him directly to the baptistry.

Christians and Food Laws

Sometimes I see images like this on Facebook or wander into discussions/arguments and can’t believe we are still at odds over food laws. The early Christians in the first century couldn’t come to a consensus so it should surprise no one that all of us do not agree today.

Liturgy?

Your experience with liturgical worship probably depends on the denomination you are part of. Liturgy is probably associated with high church in Presbyterian, Lutheran and Methodist denominations, less so with Baptists. When I say probably I mean chances are, in most cases, all other things being equal, the odds are in favor of what I’m saying… but it all depends. Style of worship and what constitutes worship are highly subjective to individuals and individual congregations. When we start generalizing about denominations there are so many flavors within each and there is bound to be some bleed through around the edges, to mix metaphors.

Asbury Revival

The Asbury Revival has been trending on social media and religious newspapers for a couple of weeks. I mentioned it Saturday only to say that I had no comment but maybe later. That story has been well covered, it has the nation’s collective attention, every armchair theologian has weighed in. The response to the Asbury Revival has become its own story. Everyone with internet seems to either be a critic or a supporter of what is being done and how. Jimmy Humphrey wrote a post and made that the subject of his weekly podcast and I finally did reply to his comment. Without looking back that went something like this:

Lent + Valentine’s

The guys on the Unashamed Podcast (Phil, Al and Jase Robertson) were discussing the Valentine’s Day traditions we keep and their relationship to the actual Saint Valentine. Just like Easter, Halloween and Christmas, the activities and traditions the culture is familiar with has little to do with the religious significance those holidays have for believers. Ash Wednesday and Lent are not as well known in the popular culture, even though most people have heard of Mardis Gras. There again, getting drunk and collecting plastic beads has nothing to do with thinking about the cross and preparing for Palm Sunday and Good Friday.

More Than Jabez

Billy Ray Cyrus had other singles besides Achy Breaky Heart in the early 90’s. Paul Reubens has appeared in movies playing characters other than Pee Wee Herman, just like Jim Varney was not always Earnest. James Best was a television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. But you probably only know him as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. Sometimes a person becomes so well known for one thing that people are unaware of anything else.

Deep Dive: God’s Judgement

First things first: The image above is a tweet. The current limit on characters is 280 and while that can be useful one cannot fully express the balance of a lifetime of study in a couple of sentences. Benjamin Cremer is a Wesleyan pastor with multiple degrees including a Master’s in Theological Studies. To learn more about Rev. Cremer and his views read more tweets; and he also writes books. I want to use the tweet as a launching point to make a deep dive into what we understand from scripture about God’s judgement. My post of 600 to 800 words will still fall short of everything the Bible has to say.