Author Archives: MzEllen, posted from my iPad

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via Hot Air...

In the New Testament, suffering and death are more often evidence of obedience than disobedience to God. When the Lord told Ananias to go to Straight Street and place his hands on Saul (later Paul) to restore Saul’s sight, the Lord said to Ananias, “This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” The two most important figures in Christianity – Jesus and St. Paul – died violent deaths (according to Christian tradition, Paul was beheaded by the Romans). So the effort to create a cause-and-effect – in this case, turning your back on God leads to mass shootings and violent death – is itself theologically misguided.

Here's the problem (although I should not be that surprised, since the political slant of the writer show up later one)

anyway...

the writer of the original article (Peter Wehner) fails to understand (or maybe admit) the difference between a violent society being judged by God...and a holy individual being persecuted by that violent society.

I may disagree with Dobson's thrust...but I believe the reality is that when a society turns its (collective) back on God, it will become more violent as God grants their wish.

From the article:

So the effort to create a cause-and-effect – in this case, turning your back on God leads to mass shootings and violent death – is itself theologically misguided

No...no it isn't. Romans 1:28-31 says

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Wehner references Peter and Jesus - both killed by violent societies for being righteous.

He doesn't get that the violent societies got violent because they turned their backs on God.

So, sorry Mr. Wehner...it **IS** cause and effect and the Bible says so.

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Colleen's Slow Cooker Jambalaya
INGREDIENTS
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound frozen cooked shrimp without tails
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, green bell pepper, celery, and broth. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme.
2. Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High. Stir in the shrimp during the last 30 minutes of cook time.

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I've had a few days to stew and the flavors of the soup have blended.

I heard one commentator say that the problem is not the weapon - it's the culture.

WISDOM SPEAKS: (Proverbs 8:36)

but he who fails to find me injures himself;
all who hate me love death

On one hand, the man who killed all those people clearly failed to find wisdom. Perhaps he was incapable of finding it. Did he "hate" it? Maybe not, but he was the bringer of death.

But extend that out.

We have a president (Mr. Obama) who is saying that we must prevent this tragedy from happening again.

1) all who hate wisdom love death.
2) leftists have cultivated a culture of death.

The collective agreement to stand against ANY law that could restrict ANY abortion is evidence.

But beyond that (and not only leftists are guilty)

movies, video games, RPG's, music...all of these have become increasingly violent.

I remember "pacman" where a mento with a mouth gobbled dots.

Now, a "first person shooter" kills realistic looking enemies, with realistic looking weapons.

Do we really think this doesn't have some sort of effect?

It's not the weapon. It's the culture.

Ruminate on that.

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(I'm not going back)

Henceforth:

I will call Bible things by Bible names:

- Predestined, elect, justification, sanctification

I will not be a wuss about using "Reformed" terms.

- "Doctrines of Grace"

I have hesitated because - that's what Reformers called TULIP but I've been a bit timid about using the term...because I'm afraid of "Dave Hunt."

No more.

😉 some of us have a "mid life crisis" - or "second childhood."

I may be having a "second cage phase"

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[rating=0]I started this book once before and rarely do I find a book that is so antithetical to what I believe - that is presented as truth...that I am too distraught to read it.

"Allah - A Christian Response" is one of them

Three quotes:

What the Qur’an denies about God as the Holy Trinity has been denied by every great teacher of the church in the past and ought to be denied by every orthodox Christian today. I reject the idea that Muslim monotheism is incompatible with the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.

Let's start with the Doctrine of the Trinity

They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity, for there is no god except One God." (Qur'an 5:73)

Then: Jesus is the Son of God and **IS** God.

Christ the son of Mary was no more than an apostle; many were the apostles that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth! (Qur'an 5:75)

I recognize that the author makes his statement in a squishy sort of way...it is difficult to prove a negative.

But what is essential is that neither religion AFFIRMS what the other religion teaches about their God.

Christians believe that Jesus IS God.
Muslims believe He was a prophet and no more.

Christian believe that we worship one God in Three Persons...blessed Trinity.
Muslims believe that is blaspheme.

The effort to show that we worship the same God is an effort in a slight of hand.

So...yup.  Zero stars

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Reason #3 - I'm not going back

My son was "Born With A Bomb" - he has this "thing" inserted into his DNA. It was there from birth, he inherited it from me. He went blind.

Everybody on the planet was born with a different bomb. We have this "thing" - a "sin nature" that we inherited from Adam. Because of this, we are blinded by the god of this age.

Tom cannot make himself "unblind." This is where he is. But there is hope. There's a physician (a group of them...best in the world) who have poured their lives into fixing this mess.

We cannot make ourselves unblind. This is where we are. But there is hope. There's a Great Physician who poured out His life, fixing this mess.

Tom's physician is the only one with the key to treating LHON. There is no other treatment available, and it is only available if you are chosen to receive the treatment.

The Great Physician is also the key to healing our sin nature. There is no other treatment other than Christ, and it is only available to those who trust Him.

But Tom cannot make himself unblind...

and just so, we cannot make ourselves unblind.

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What happened in Sandy Hook yesterday was every parent's nightmare. I have no way to explain what was in God's mind when He allowed that to happen.

We question God. the painful cries of "why? WHY???" are in God's ears. The Holy Spirit is interceding with groans because there are parents who just don't know how to pray.

It struck me during this conversation that there is a difference between
1- questioning God's plan
2- questioning God's actions
3- questioning God's authority

The difference between "why are you doing this" and "how dare you do this?"

There is a peace in resting in the understanding that God is in control. Whatever happened yesterday, or the day before, or whatever will happen tomorrow...We are in the hand of God.

Whatever happens today, we have eternity.

God is sovereign over His creation and that includes us. That includes Lanza. And it includes the people who died yesterday.

(Romans 8:18-25

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

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Reason #2 - I'm not going back

OK - maybe not the whole thing. Taken one piece at a time.

A self-challenge. It just hit me today how comforting it is to believe that God has me. No matter what, who, how, where, when. God HAS ME.

I was listening to Matt Chandler. No matter what things come my way, if God's not in control, what good is suffering? If God cannot make this work out for good, why suffer?

Even if we cannot comprehend what good "this" could be...God does know, He has us in His hands.

Also reading Acts 9. Saul was minding his own business (of persecuting Jesus) when he was knocked on his butt. Not exactly consensual.

Later in the chapter, Peter raised Dorcas from the dead. Was she exercising her "free will"?

I need to touch base with the fundamentals. This challenge will be a cool start.

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Yeah, "right to work" and "abortion" have a parallel.

Having a conversation with a liberal about "right to work" - I said it would be good to be able to choose whether to join a labor union. He said, "You do have a choice - you can choose not to work at a company that has a union."

?

Let's pop abortion in there.

😉

Liberal: "It would be good, even necessary, to have a choice."
Conservative: "You do have a choice. You can choose to not have sex, you can choose to use birth control and if you find yourself pregnant you can choose to raise the child or put him or her up for adoption.

See how they would reject that?

Liberal: choice for me...but not for thee....

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I'm reading "A More Profound Alleluia" and it's worth the read. I have a hard copy somewhere, but bought the Kindle version, plus another to loan out.

This particular volume highlights arguably the most important connections that need to be made for worship to be well grounded - namely, the connections between our liturgical actions and our understanding of the God we worship. After all, as D. A. Carson has observed, "worship" is a transitive verb.'

What is important is not that we worship, but rather that we worship God. For all our talk about "grounding worship in theology,"most Christians (and even Christian leaders) actually spend very little energy working at it. By and large, most of us accept ideas about God, salvation, and the church that are in the cultural air we breathe, and we worship in ways that make us most comfortable.

The distinction between THAT we worship and WHO we worship reminded me of the words of Calvin - the human heart is an idol factory.

What/who do we worship? It's not a matter of whether or not we worship, it's whether we have God as the object of our worship.

How does our worship point to God? I know that our contemporary services don't leave room for "liturgy" - although we certainly have an "order of worship." I had been attending a Lutheran Church and I fell into the liturgy. Every single Sunday, I got the body and blood of Christ, every single Sunday, I said the Lord's Prayer with fellow believers all over the world. Every single Sunday I recited the "Apostles' Creed" with spiritual siblings all over the planet.

There is a solemnity - profundity - in these things that I miss. I love this new church, but I miss the profundity.

The phrase from the quote - "we worship in ways that make us most comfortable,"

we have now been trained to see "7-11" as the norm. Fluff, focus on self. Band "solos." The rape of hymns. I don't know how to get back to where this church was 6 months ago when I first went there. I don't know if I can, or should. I'm tired of feeling like I've been led to a church to be the sand in their eye and I don't want to do that or be that here!