The Temple

Interesting older interview…two parts

Apparently God has no say in what God thinks…we each define it for ourselves. This removal of any personality in God defaults into a pantheistic spiritualism: we all can create our godness, because everything is god and connecting to this god is entirely personal and individual. Ultimately connecting with god is no different than knowing myself.

The anti-ideology approach is an interesting one: beliefs are bad, I mean all beliefs except the ones I create and oh, those aren’t beliefs because all beliefs are bad, except the ones I hold…Can this be more obtuse.

Why is Oprah an expert on “spirituality”?  We are so attracted to personality and celebrity that we will listen to actors for advice on everything from politics to religion.  Pathetic.

from www.youtube.com posted with vodpod

Michael Spencer at the Internet Monk has written a provocative and insightful post called “What Do Gays and Lesbians Hear?” on Evangelical challenges in rightly dealing with the issue of homosexuality.

Technorati Tags: Homosexuality, Evangelical, Internet Monk, Michael Spencer

RC Sproul Interviews Ben Stein about his upcoming movie, Expelled. Strange bedfellows indeed.

from video.google.com posted with vodpod

Visit the original post on Ligonier Ministries Blog and visit the Expelled website to view a trailer of the movie set to be in movie theaters April 18th.

Technorati Tags: Ben Stein, RC Sproul, Expelled, Intelligent Design, Evolution

Could you help me out? Please define the above term off the top of your head - no Bible study or looking up verses, just a quick definition you would give to a 8-12 year old. What does it mean to “Walk by the Spirit”?

Put your answer in the comments section…thanks.

Technorati Tags: Holy Spirit

I heard David Levy on the radio a few weeks ago, nobody better than Stephen Colbert to highlight the problems with humor and sarcasm. The philosophical underpinnings are more disturbing than the moral challenges with this sort of industry. Philosophically, people will not have a problem with this and it probably will embrace it openly. As you listen to the guy you will notice that he sees no problem whatsoever with sex with a robot. The reason for this is that he is a materialist, as are many people in the world (at least when it suits them). Since he believes that all that exists is the physical/material, he correctly concludes that there is no problem with sex with a robot, or any other kind of sex for that matter. The moral component is difficult to supply if you are a materialist, because all we are dealing with is what the “material” needs or wants.

Christianity does not support materialism, rather we would philosophically be considered dualists (at least of a sort, a longer discussion for another post). Since Christianity assumes more to life than a physical component, we attribute a spiritual quality to sex. It is more than simple physical procreation. This philosophical underpinning gives foundation to monogamy, fidelity and purity in the sexual experience. Sex is not made up of simply the physical activity but includes the underlying spiritual component. Christianity will have a problem with this not simply because of the moral component, rather we are most uncomfortable with the materialist underpinnings that leads to moral .

Unbelievers and believers who are not adept at critical thinking and have not evaluated their mindset and personal philosophy will fall into the trap of being materialists at one level, and moral at another. For instance, when it suits people they argue that if it happens in the privacy of a bedroom, it is private and is nothing more than “sex”, like an itch that needs to be scratched. It didn’t include the spiritual component. So we try to divorce the biological act from the spiritual act, as if there was no inherent connection. If we are only material beings, with no spiritual component, we are simply talking about a physical activity. It is simply biological function without the procreation element, or the STD element. But the Scripture doesn’t know about this dichotomy. Christianity is about correspondence between thinking and acting.

from stevebag.vodpod.com

Technorati Tags: Colbert, David Levy, Sex with Robots, Materialism, Dualism

Merry Christmas.

I compiled some quotes about Christmas…sometimes other people have already said it best…enjoy!

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~Charles Dickens

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it ‘Christmas’ and went to church; the Jews called it ‘Hanukkah’ and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say ‘Merry Christmas!’ or ‘Happy Hanukkah!’ or (to the atheists) ‘Look out for the wall!’” Dave Barry, “Christmas Shopping: A Survivor’s Guide”

I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays - let them overtake me unexpectedly - waking up some find morning and suddenly saying to myself: “Why, this is Christmas Day!” David Grayson

When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? G.K. Chesterton

Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money. ~Author Unknown

Roses are reddish
Violets are bluish
If it weren’t for Christmas
We’d all be Jewish.
Benny Hill

I do like Christmas on the whole…. In its clumsy way, it does approach Peace and Goodwill. But it is clumsier every year. E.M. Forster

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,
The gladness of give you hope,
The warmth of Christmas grant you love.
~Author Unknown

The message of Christmas is that the visible material world is bound to the invisible spiritual world. ~Author Unknown

The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn’t for any religious reasons. They couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin. Jay Leno

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. Dr. Seuss

The Church does not superstitiously observe days, merely as days, but as memorials of important facts. Christmas might be kept as well upon one day of the year as another; but there should be a stated day for commemorating the birth of our Saviour, because there is danger that what may be done on any day, will be neglected. Samuel Johnson

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Quotes, Samuel Johnson, Dr. Seuss, GK Chesterton, Dave Berry, Jay Leno, Anonymous, EM Forster, Benny+Hill, Charles+Dickens

STR (Stand To Reason) is a weekly radio program/podcast hosted by Greg Koukl. I got his support letter today and actually feel compelled to send him some $. Take a visit to STR and listen to some broadcasts that are truly worth your time, unlike most of the stuff you hear on Christian radio and TV. This is a trustworthy source of information and he will challenge your mind and your thinking.

In his letter he quotes Will Durant (a historian and the author of The Story of Civilization) who says this about the gospels:

“No one reading these scenes can doubt the reality of the figure behind them.  That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty an ethic, and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the Gospels.”

Technorati Tags: Greg Koukl, Stand To Reason, STR

Here is an interesting post on singing love songs in church entitled Jesus I’m Not in Love With You by Professor John Stackhouse.

ht: Between Two Worlds

Technorati Tags: Worship, Professor John Stackhouse

Here we go again. Christians getting upset about the wrong things, and Christians getting involved in the wrong things. The discussion about Yoga has been around for a while now. Is it ok for a Christian to participate in Yoga?

First, terms must be defined.

Yoga is defined in the dictionary as

1. a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.
2. any of the methods or disciplines prescribed, esp. a series of postures and breathing exercises practiced to achieve control of the body and mind, tranquillity, etc.
3. union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.

Now obviously I am not a Hindu. Christianity and Hindu philosophy have multiple contrary points of view and beliefs. I am not saying nor do I think Christians who participate in Yoga are saying that Christianity and Hinduism are compatible. They are not. The real question is can a Christian participate in the physical components of Yoga without crossover into the spiritual elements?

Why do we always ask the wrong question? There are deeper questions that need to be addressed to determine the right response. Those deeper questions include the following:

• What is the nature of spiritual power, especially the realm of the demonic/satanic?
• Are Christians susceptible to spiritual forces by proximity?
• Are Christians susceptible to spiritual forces because they read a book, watch a movie, or participate in some physical posture or mechanism?
• Can people be overcome by a spiritual force outside of themselves? Can a Christian?
• What is the extent of Satan’s power, demonic power?
• Does the Holy Spirit (who resides in some way in the believer) submit himself to the presence of a demonic element if the believer (host) submits himself to that element?

The above questions presuppose the following:

• The existence of a being called Satan and the existence of the demonic realm.
• That Satan and demons have power

You know…this is just stupid. I am here trying to define and delineate something that is just silly. It is in the same category as Christians opposing Harry Potter, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Rock and Roll music etc.

Just because something is proposed or practiced by non-Christians doesn’t mean it is necessarily evil, bad or objectionable. Just because something is practiced by Christians doesn’t mean it is good or worthy of praise. So with regard to Yoga, the spiritual principles and truth claims are obviously non-Christian. The physical stretches, positions and movements are not “necessarily” evil or off limits. Meditation and/or clearing the mind are good things. My wife’s answer to what she meditates on while exercising with a Yoga DVD: “Not falling over.”

For the most part, Yoga in America has nothing to do with Hinduism

No one has been harmed spiritually by participating in simple Yoga exercises.

People should be smart enough to distinguish between the destructive and innocuous, the false and the true. In fact, maybe more Christians should do Yoga, they certainly need to relax.

Technorati Tags: Yoga, Christianity, Hinduism, John MacArthur, Doug Pagitt