Blogging Events

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“Preach The Gospel At All Times; When Necessary, Use Words” falsely attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

It’s right up there with such classics as “Give someone your phone number; when necessary use numerals” or “Give someone a meal; when necessary use food.”
The saying is much loved by those who think that Christianity is more about what Jesus would do than that which Jesus has done.  Borrowed from MGPCPASTOR.

The more I hear/read it, the more I want it erased from the memories of everybody who has had it inflicted on them.

What does it mean?

WORKS - ARE the Gospel.  If I work hard enough, well enough, loving enough...the person for whom I am working, will find salvation without my using words.  If you're doing it right, you won't need words.

salvation by osmosis.

My good deeds is your good news...and that means you're screwed.

News flash:  the "good news" is not about what I can do, it's about what Christ has done.

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"A Christian is one who make it easier for other people to believe in God."

I believe that a Christian is a person who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation and eternal life.

Is "making it easier for other people to believe" part of the mission?  In a way, yes.  But in a big way, no.

It's my job to preach the gospel.  It's the job of the Holy Spirit to regenerate the heart and draw people to the Father.  So, in a way, the preaching of the gospel IS helping others to believe.

But I suspect what is meant by "make it easier for other people to believe" is really

"make the gospel so non-threatening to the lifestyle of sinners that it becomes meaningless to save, but people can go on believing that they're okay because nobody ever made it clear that they weren't."

There is a cost to believing, and we are to count the cost.  If we make the gospel "easy," when life isn't, faith is shallow.

 

 

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New diet app for iThings

MyNetDiary rocks.  It's good for food tracking on the iPad - the iPhone app (they are different) lets you scan a barcode to enter nutritional info.  Things I would change:

  • stop telling me in red letters that my plan doesn't call for enough grams of carbohydrate.
  • integrate mapmyfitness.

that's pretty much it.

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Recipe of the week:  another keeper.  Note - next time way more cardamom and a little more turmeric.
* Exported from MasterCook *

Slow Cooker Beef Rogan Josh - indian

Recipe By     :
Serving Size  : 4     Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    :

Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
1              pound  round steak -- cubed
1                     onion -- diced
4                     garlic cloves -- minced
2        tablespoons  cumin
2        tablespoons  coriander
1         tablespoon  turmeric
2          teaspoons  cardamom
2          teaspoons  minced fresh ginger
2          teaspoons  chili powder
28            ounces  crushed tomatoes
1                cup  yogurt

In a nonstick skillet, saute the beef, onion, and garlic until just browned. Drain off any excess fat. Place into a 4-quart slow cooker.   Add the spices and crushed tomatoes. Cook on low for 8 hours. Stir in the yogurt prior to serving.

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 358 Calories; 17g Fat (42.4% calories from fat); 29g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 75mg Cholesterol; 367mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 3 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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How to Destroy a Culture in 5 Easy Steps

This seems to work in both politics and religion...

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On the "dominionism" paranoia (or worse)

from patheos...

Schaeffer condemned theocracy and found civil disobedience frightening?  OMG, that's crazy!!  Lizza and Knight need to realize that they are the ones on the crazy train, not Michele Bachmann.  It certainly is crazy what drinking that liberal Kool-aid does to the human mind.

GetReligion:

Another dual category - history and religion (but I haven't read this article yet)

Four Myths About the Crusades

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Do you think liberals will EVER care about "fast and furious"?

More...

Screw Up, Then Cover Up...

and more...

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A new word:  theophobe.

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heh...WaPo (via NeoNeocon)

The Internal Revenue Service allowed undocumented workers to collect $4.2 billion in refundable tax credits last year, a new audit says, almost quadruple the sum five years ago.

From NeoNeocon

I suggest the following new and evolving nomenclature to further the cause (we already know about the one that goes “white conservatives: racists”):

thieves: undocumented owners

prisoners: unpardoned innocents

rapists: unsanctioned sex partners

embezzlers: unpaid workers

prostitutes: unmarried wives

terrorists: un-uniformed soldiers

I’m sure there are others you can add to the list.

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No prayers at ground zero.

 

 

 

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Politics/religion - yes, this one does fit.

In my web wanderings, I either see or participate in debates where the lines are either drawn between Calvinism vs "something else" OR conservative vs. liberal (either politics or religion.  It's the latter I'm thinking about when I post "Obama's Nazi Straw Man:  an Old Alinsky Trick" - I read "Rules for Radicals" a while ago, to brush up for conversations at work

It hit me the other day that - whether meaning to or not - liberal Christians may use some of the same tactics in religious conversations.

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Gender and religion - on "Straw Women"

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Lutheran SATIRE - "What St. Paul Really Said" (youtube video)

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For those keeping up with Rob Bell and "Love Wins" - here's the chronology from Resurgence

and...Robbed Hell - a spoof...vimeo video

 

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I haven't done this for a while - when I'm blogging nearly daily, on Monday (lunes, from when I was taking Spanish classes) I gather all the open tabs from my blog reader and post what I thought were the most interesting ones.  (It has a purpose for me also - if I remember a post that I want to read again, if I put it here, I can find it.)

Fifty Fruits of Pride - a self-diagnostic; from Gospel Centric

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I've been doing reading on Genesis and the creation story -

The meaning of "expanse" in Genesis 1; from True Paradigm

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The Theology of Blame Shifting; from Jonathan Moorhead

No one is guilty of their sin anymore! It is always someone else’s, or something else’s fault. If it’s not your how your parents treated you, then it’s your genes, your surroundings, or maybe even the Devil made you do it. We are all victims!

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On the political side: Hero vs. Zero (one of a series - with lots to work from - from HillBuzz)

From the Advice Goddess Blog

Wearing Red On Friday Can Be Helpful...
...If you are, say, wandering into traffic while staring into your electronic binkie, it may help drivers stop soon enough as to only maim you instead of killing you.

(...)

@amyalkon Go naked on Friday to support anti-asshat-think. Wearing pink doesn't stop breast cancer, wearing red doesn't eliminate heart disease.