Happy Monday

Has it ever occurred to you that nothing occurs to God?  –God’s Page

Joe Biden and Paul Ryan debated on Thursday night, Obama and Romney will be back at on Tuesday.  My wife wishes the election would already be over, and we don’t even live in one of those battleground states.  The entire election may come down to Ohio, and the t.v. ads and mail box stuffing is at full tilt.  Sorry Ohio.

Felix Baumgartner finally jumped from the edge of space over the weekend.  Did he set a new speed record, breaking the sound barrier in the process?  No.

American Airlines says the recent seat incidents aboard its planes may be due to spilled snacks and drinks corroding the hardware.  Snacks and drinks have been served on passenger planes since the 1920’s, Delta has over 5,000 flights per day, and only American has this problem?

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Can Christians Vote for a Mormon

 

Can Christians Vote for a Mormon?  That was the topic of a panel discussion at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  When I saw the headline, I couldn’t believe we were still talking about this.  The panel resulted in some good points being made about viewing American history from a Christian perspective and abandoning the idea that the White House is some king of mascot for Christianity.  I like this statement from Al Mohler:   “Above all we have a Gospel responsibility, that we are first and foremost citizens of the heavenly Kingdom and our concern is that others will become a part of the Kingdom through the proclamation of the Gospel.”

The panel was composed of four members, among them Al Mohler, Jr., President of Southern Baptist Seminary and Russell Moore, dead of the school of theology at Southern.  Despite a little shock at the headline (and maybe that was the point) I really liked where they came out on this.  Read the entire article at Baptist Press.  

 

 

Happy Monday

The 2012 Summer Olympics are over in London, closing ceremonies were last night.  The United States finished with 104 medals, 46 of them gold.  Opening ceremonies for the 2014 winter games will be held February 7, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

One of my pet peeves is everything that gets forwarded, reposted, retweeted etc. that was never true in the first place.  It started with email in the late 90’s and has only gotten worse with social media and 24/7 connectivity.  Neither Pepsi nor Coca-Cola are releasing a patriotic can which leaves “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance. Continue reading

The Read and Share File

Image is unrelated, but is something I read this week.

Culture war, church culture, shallow Christianity, need for the Gospel – they’re all featured in this post on Internet Monk.

Praying in Jesus’ Name – John Piper offers four “filters” for how to do it right.  Here is a 3 minute clip; you can watch, listen to, or download the full sermon at this link.

This article at 9Marks is interesting, but will perhaps apply to only a very few readers.  Marcus Glover writes a list of ways aspiring pastors can serve their wives now.  Huh?  Once you become a church pastor, there are some things you will miss.  Make sure to engage in those now.

Obama has come out in support of gay marriage.  He supported gay marriage as a state senator, but changed his position to run for U.S. Senate.  So he is now changing back to his original position, in support of gay marriage.  So: why does Obama evolve but Romney flip-flops?  Both men, like many politicians, have changed their views over their political careers.

I recently added Steve Brown etc. to the blogroll, and am anxious to link something.  Here is the latest post, an update to what’s known as the watchmaker argument.  Dr. Rana, author of the post, has a PhD in biochemistry and is the vice president of research and apologetics at Reason to Believe.  The post includes links to that site, as well as Dr. Rana’s recent appearance on Steve Brown’s radio show.

Tall Skinny Kiwi recently insisted he and his family are not living in a commune.  Watch this local news report about Justin Duckworth (not your ordinary bishop) and decide for yourself.

Faith by Hearing is an aggregator of audio resources, including audio books, podcasts and sermons.  Kind of like a blog, but also featuring an extensive and growing collection of audio material.  The archives are divided by topic, speaker, faith tradition and other classifications.  Faith by Hearing is a treasure trove that simply must be explored to fully appreciate.

Is Mitt Romney a Christian?

Is Mitt Romney a Christian?  Are Mormons Christian?

Many others have already posted on this.  Here’s the article that got me thinking.  My issue has less to do with Romney’s faith than with the significance of a candidates faith when considering a president.  But first things first.

Are Mormons Christian?  The short answer is yes, but it comes with a lot of baggage to unpack.  Mormons, who would prefer to be called Latter Day Saints or LDS, read the Bible and believe in Jesus Christ.  Anyone worshiping Christ is a Christian in that sense.  As a believer in Christ, Romney falls in that classification.  But that’s not all Mormons believe. Continue reading