Sunday, September 30, 2012

Review - Sunday Evening September 30th 2012

Review of Lord’s Day Evening: September 30th 2012
Pastor Neil Jackson
Revelation 3:19-22

My take on the sermon
Someone yelling out "wrong way!" when you are driving down a one-way street is a very helpful and loving thing to do.  What kind of person would say, "who are they to tell me this is the wrong way?"  Most would simply be thankful and turn around.  This is much like the passage under consideration as the harsh rebuke to the church in Laodicea is a warning to turn from a dangerous path.

Review - Sunday Morning September 30th 2012

Review of Lord's Day Morning: September 30th 2012
Pastor Shane Walker
Luke 1:1-45

My take on the sermon

Friends on Facebook are of a much different sort than other types of friends. You can rack up friends on Facebook and it merely means you are interested in seeing posts by that person some of the time.  It doesn't necessarily denote a deep and abiding affinity.  In ancient times it was likely a much more serious (in a good way) thing to call someone your friend.  Luke was likely a good friend of Paul and we know they were traveling companions.  Luke was likely a physician and we know that he was well taught by the skill exhibited in his Greek.  He writes in classical historic terms using the word translated "inasmuch" which is nowhere else found in the New Testament but is found in other Greek historians of the time.  This is just one example of his use of the Greek language, the entire "Preamble" to the book is very well done.  Also, when Luke refers to Old Testament passages and ideas he uses the same words that are used in the Septuagint.  The one addressed in this book as Theophilus may well have been a person or could also refer to all Christians.  The name means "friend of God" and forms one of the themes of the sermon: Friends of God.

Instead

Mark:  Daddy why does hair grow in your nose instead?
Me:  What do you mean "instead?"
Mark:  Why does hair grown in your nose?
Me:  It just does... but why did you say "instead?"
Mark:  uhh Daddy... your hair doesn't grow on your head anymore but it grows in your nose right?
later...
Mark:  Daddy I think God wants your hair to grow in your nose instead of on your head... maybe.


Mark:  (wearing shin guards on his arms) Daddy! if a robot hitted me really hard on my arm when I am wearing these... he will break apart!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Review - Sunday Evening September 23rd

Review of Lord’s Day Evening: September 23rd 2012
Pastor Neil Jackson
Revelation 3:14-18

My take on the sermon
The Church in Laodicea has grown fat and kicked like Jeshurun in Deuteronomy 32:15 – KJV “But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.” Fatties; not physically but spiritually.  They have become self-reliant because of their wealth and strength.

Review - Sunday Morning September 23rd

Review of Lord’s Day Morning: September 23rd 2012
Pastor Shane Walker
Deuteronomy 32:48 – 34
 
My take on the sermon

One of the key themes in Deuteronomy involves Moses teaching Israel to know God as He really is.  This is an important objective in all epochs, but in Deuteronomy Moses teaches especially against the worship of the false gods of the surrounding nations and against the propensity to “forget God.” In Chapter 33 the concept of Jeshurun, the beloved upright One (Israel), is explored and linked with the Beloved referenced in the New Testament.

Friday, September 28, 2012

"What seems to a man, is to him"

"What seems to a man, is to him".  So says Protagoras.  Basically, truth is whatever it seems to be to that individual.  Certainly nothing has changed under the sun as this seems to be espoused by many today.  There are many corollaries such as, "live and let live" or, "to each his own" and so on. 

But these are simply the mantra of those who refuse to stand for truth.  It is much easier to be a relativist than to espouse objective truths and defend them.  Perhaps the only "good" thing about relativism is the ease and comfort it affords those who espouse it. 

However, it is an incoherent and illogical system.

"If you say there are no universally valid truths including the claim that there are no universally valid truths, then you have contradicted yourself. You have said the claim both is and is not universally valid."
- John Searle "Refutation of Relativism"

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Intro

This is my personal blog.  It will be a bunch of thoughts on various topics; a place to put some writing that no one else would publish. A college professor once told me, “writing is thinking,” and I hope this blog will be a place where careful thinking occurs.  Please comment with your thoughts.
A note about the title, “Adopted Son.”  This is a reference to an ancient letter written to a group of Christians living in Rome, Italy. This letter, found in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, is quite long and broken down into chapters and verses.  In chapter 8 verse 15 we read, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”“ To be an adopted son, what does that mean? It is to be accepted by God as a son because of what Jesus has done.  My great joy at being adopted into the family of God is my driving motivation in life and will certainly be one of many topics addressed on this blog.
Other things you may find here are posts dealing with literature, theology, books I am reading, current events, my family, humor, business, sports, poetry, church, people of note, and other interesting things.  In short, this is my personal blog.  Thank you all (or should I be more realistically say, "my wife"?) for reading.