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Sep
26
Category Archives: Misc.
Aug
29
Trouble Linking to A Witness Lee Book
Earlier today I created a bit.ly link to a book on Living Stream Ministry’s online books collection. It was to direct my readers to a book by Witness Lee titled Concerning the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The book is a short and glaring display of his confusion on basic aspects of the nature of God.
The bit.ly link was http://bit.ly/pujuwY and it should have sent anyone who clicked it (as I did within seconds of tweeting) to this page:
You would think that a group which considers themselves a ministry would want to make it as easy as possible to access their free online material. Not so with the Local Church’s publishing arm. By the time I got to class about 90 minutes later the bit.ly link was sending folks to the main page with no indication that they should have landed on the first page of a book they offer for free.
Might I suggest one trait of a cult is the willingness to distribute the cult-leader’s literature but an unwillingness to let an outsider cast it in a critical or negative light?
Jul
29
7 Ways to Support an Apologetics Website/Blog
There are many ways to show your support for the cause of Christian apologetics.
1. Follow them on social media websites (Facebook, Twitter, etc)
Most apologetics websites/blogs have a facebook page and/or twitter account. They use these to stay in touch with their readers. Likewise, readers will receive their posts/tweets when new content is posted. It is win-win. Even if you don’t read everything that they post, simply following them will encourage them.
2. Share, Re-post, Re-tweet…
When you read an article, blog, or any kind of webpage you find useful or informative, you can post that link to your facebook/twitter and help your friends and followers access the same information. The more people who come into contact with apologetic material the more effective it is. Bloggers and writers in the field of apologetics have a desire to impact peoples lives, you help them make a better impact when you re-post their material.
3. Look out for Ads
When a website has advertisements they receive revenue when someone clicks on an ad. Please be careful to not click on every ad indiscriminately (as this is usually considered abusive), but if you see an interesting ad while visiting a site you want to support you should click it and let the page load. Ads from Google are safe and generally reliable (meaning they screen the sites for viruses and malware). Your click will help financially support the website and could lead you to another interesting site or service!
4. Amazon Associates
Some websites are signed up with Amazon Associates. This also helps generate revenue for the website. The way it works is Amazon gives a special link to the site. When you click through this link and make a purchase Amazon pays a commission to the site that referred you to them.
5. Look for Wishlists
The field of apologetics is by nature an academic field. Enthusiasts who blog and write the articles you enjoy first must read and research. Many will have a link to a wishlist on Amazon or some other website. You can go to their wishlist and show your support for apologetics by purchasing them a book, CD, DVD or anything else you feel like buying for them.
6. Donate Money Directly
This more traditional method of support is also available. Apologetics ministries who have staff, inventory, and equipment usually have a budget filled with financial needs. If you enjoy their apologetic material and want to see them create more then consider donating money. Look for an address to mail a check or you can often donate online. Methods such as PayPal are safe, reliable, and fast ways to show your support. And as with any thing involving money, please be cautious and only donate to ministries and individual apologists who you trust will use your donation wisely.
7. Start your own Apologetics Blog
If you enjoy reading theology and apologetics, if you enjoy discussing theology and apologetics, perhaps it is time to take your interest to the next level and start your own blog! Free blogging services such as Blogger and WordPress are great ways to put your material out there for the world to see. It doesn’t matter if you post once a month or five times a day. You decide what to put on your blog and God will use it! Your blog can also be a way to support other apologetics websites and blogs by posting links to their content.
Jul
28
Apologetics on Twitter
Apologetics Groups, Ministries, and Websites
Answers in Genesis
Apologetics 315
The Apologetic Hub
Apologetics Index
Apologetics Press
Jun
22
The Grace Agenda, with Doug Wilson & Mark Driscoll, Sept. 16-17, 2011
Schedule
The Puritan Five | A pre-conference seminar for ministers and ministers-in-training
Friday | September 16
- 8:30-10:00 The Romance of Calvinism
- 10:30-11:30 Grace Has a Backbone
- 11:30-12:45 Lunch Break
- 12:45-1:45 Grace for the Nations
- 2:00-3:00 Reformed Catholicity Starts at Home
Dangerous Women | A pre-conference seminar for women
Friday | September 16
- 8:30-10:00 What does it mean to be a dangerous woman? – Nancy Wilson
- 10:30-11:30 The Dangerous Woman as a Wife – Bekah Merkle
- 11:30-12:45 Lunch Break
- 12:45-1:45 As a Mother – Rachel Jankovic
- 2:00-3:00As a Single Woman – Heather Wilson
The Grace Agenda Conference Sessions
Friday | September 16
- 3:00 Registration is open
- 6:00-7:00 Masculinity and the Gospel – Mark Driscoll
- 7:00-7:30 Break
- 7:30 Douglas Wilson Interviews Mark Driscoll
Saturday | September 17
- 9:30-10:30 Pomosexuality – Douglas Wilson
- 10:30-11:00 Break
- 11:00-12:00 The World and Its Alternatives – N.D. Wilson
- 12:00-2:00 Lunch on your own
- 2:00-3:00 Godlust – Ben Merkle
- 3:00-3:30 Break
- 3:30-4:30 Manifesto for the Grace Agenda – Douglas Wilson
- 4:30 Q & A with all the speakers
Registration
https://credenda.wufoo.com/forms/2011-credenda-fall-conference/
Cost
Before August 1:
Individual – $100
Married Couple – $150
Student (college/seminary) – $75
Child (under 18) – $50
Location
Moscow Church of the Nazarene
1400 East 7th Street
Moscow, ID
Website
Jun
11
Ron Armstrong takes Down Sermon on Predestination
This blog is a followup to a previous entry. So there was a 7 part sermon series at Cornerstone Community Church in Wildomar, CA. The video from each sermon went up on Vimeo. Unfortunately, after James White started to critique Armstrong’s denial of predestination, sermon #4 mysteriously disappeared.
#1 Faith in Your New Life
#2 Grace
#3 Humor in the Church
#4 Predestination <=== Click to see if it works!
#5 Sexual Sin
#6 Dating
#7 Faith vs. Works
If you see what I saw it will look something like this. Sermons 1 through 3 work fine, sermon 4 returns the following message
and then sermons 5 through 7 play like normal. I ask you, it is any coincidence that a sermon which had been live on Vimeo for 2 years just disappears the day after Dr. White begins to pick it apart while the other 6 in the series remain live and watchable? I don’t believe so. It would seem that Pastor Ron Armstrong does not want his denial of the biblical teaching of predestination to be exposed.
May
23
Harold Camping, “Oops, I meant October 21″
Ok, that wasn’t a direct quote, but it is the gist of what Camping is saying [source].
OAKLAND, Calif. — California preacher Harold Camping said Monday his prophecy that the world would end was off by five months because Judgment Day actually will come on Oct. 21.
…Camping said that he’s now realized the apocalypse will come five months after May 21, the original date he predicted. He had earlier said Oct. 21 was when the globe would be consumed by a fireball.
Saturday was “an invisible judgment day” in which a spiritual judgment took place, he said. But the timing and the structure is the same as it has always been, he said.
“We’ve always said May 21 was the day, but we didn’t understand altogether the spiritual meaning,” he said. “May 21 is the day that Christ came and put the world under judgment.”
May
22
Family Radio: Cult, Cult, Cult
Among the other indicators that a group is a cult is the persistent insistence that a doctrine is correct which is clearly wrong. I’m sure I don’t need to point out the obvious that (other than ruling in true believer’s hearts) Jesus Christ did not return yesterday. But if you visit http://www.familyradio.com/index2.html, as I just did, you will see the following.
Screenshot of http://www.familyradio.com/index2.html
Now it is no surprise that if you just google “Family Radio” the 2nd link goes to what looks like the new homepage:
And if you scroll down you will notice an interesting give-away: Words which read
Graphical Homepage updated on: 05/22/2011 17:39:22
It is a curious time to be updating the website which was taking FOREVER to load the day before because of a failed rapture prediction. It is curious indeed. The index2.html page above is proclaiming the “truth” that Judgement Day was yesterday and no one seems to have faced any judgement. So Family Radio had two possible responses.
Response #1: Repent of being a cult and guessing (wrongly) when Jesus would return. Take down all of the material related to the May 21 Judgement Day prediction and issue an apology to the world.
Response #2: Spend the day updating a new homepage which omits any mention of the May 21 debacle. Don’t repent, apologize, or own up to being a cult.
It looks like Family Radio is taking the 2nd choice, the low road. But you can still donate your hard earned money to them if you are so inclined.
May
21
A Day Like Any Other
I wanted to post a nice blog today. A blog that just lists a bunch of facts. Nothing unusual. I hope you enjoy it!
Ordinary Fact #1: No unusual geological activity
Do you ever check to see if there have been extraordinary, massive earthquakes systematically moving across the planet in hourly intervals. Well, if you decide to do that, don’t become anxious. It isn’t happening.
Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/ accessed at 11am PDT
Ordinary Fact #2: Millions of people aren’t missing from planet earth
You can check google, I just did. You would probably recognize this phenomena by a massive increase in missing persons and kidnapping reports, an unprecedented number of car accidents with no bodies found.
Ordinary Fact #3: No graveyards reporting zombies or resurrections.
Well, no reliable sources are reporting this anyways…
If you never thought about these things don’t worry, this happens every day without fail. Today is looking pretty normal.
May
19
Harold Camping’s Numbers
I have been intrigued by the stir Harold Camping (of Family Radio) is causing regarding his prediction of the rapture this Saturday (May 21st, 2011). If I understand his math, here is how he arrives at his conclusion:
According to Camping, numbers in the Bible have spiritual meaning, so among other numbers:
5 = atonement
10 = completion
17 = heaven
Before you ask why, lets move along to the next step (don’t dilly-dally)
Ok, now multiply them (remember, we’re still not asking why)
(5 x 10 x 17) = 850
ya with me? now don’t get caught up on 850, we need to double the numbers now
(5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500
So, if Jesus’ atonement took place on April, 1 33 AD an you go forward 722,500 days you arrive at May 21st, 2011. Why did we double the numbers in the most recent equation? Camping says it is doubled “because that shows that it absolutely is going to come to pass, and will come shortly to pass.” [source]
So on Saturday, according to Harold Camping, 200 million people will be raptured from earth. Why 200 million? (you can ask why this time). Well, Revelation 9:16 states:
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them
Don’t forget to show your work!
200,000 x 1,000 = 200,000,000
But don’t worry, if you are playing the odds and still attending a church the number could be literal or spiritual. Camping comments:
on the other hand, the 200 million could be a symbolical number because 2 signifies those who bring the gospel and 100 is completeness (the completeness of those who bring the gospel). Maybe it’s both… [source]
Ok, now you can ask what I always ask when I hear things like this: why?
Why do you take for granted that you should use base 10 mathematics when forming your calculations? Sure, we use it everyday and don’t think much of it. But what if we should be using base 5 instead? Or base 20? Do people who do math differently than us need to change?
Why does 5 = atonement instead of wholeness? After all, a hand with 5 fingers is whole or complete. But, then again, a 5 finger discount is slang for theft, so why isn’t 5 the numeric representation for robbery? Why talk about hands in the first place?
Why does 10 = completeness? Maybe if you put both hands – or feet – together, you might be on to something here! We are using base 10 math so it should fit, right? Well, maybe Israel had 2 extra tribes, Jesus had 2 extra disciples, and 2 of the minor prophets were included by accident. Maybe… or
Why does 17 = heaven? There are 17 book in the ‘prophets’ section of the Old Testament (Isaiah-Malachi), so maybe 17 should represent prophecy. Joseph was 17 when he had his dreams (see Genesis 37:2ff) so perhaps 17 represents dreams, or sleep, or (as the story goes) discord among brothers. Why, you ask? WHY NOT!?!?!?!
Why multiply 5 x 10 x 17? Why not add them together? Why not multiply 5 and 10 and then add 17? Why can’t we throw in some long division?
Why double the (5 x 10 x 17) part? If God has truly said it why does doubling make it a sure thing? Does that cast a shadow of doubt on the things which God has said in Scripture but neglected to double?
Why assume that each number equals one day? Why not make each number equal 2 days? or a week? or a month? Why not wrap things up in the 1st century and have each number equal a minute? or a second? If we consider (along with Peter) “that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8) then why are we counting out 722,500 days rather than 722,500,000 years?
Why assume that Christ was crucified in 33 AD rather than in 30 AD? Both dates have merit in light of the historical evidence (Robert Stein, Jesus the Messiah, p. 59-60) and, according to Stein, “most scholars have opted for the year 30.” If that is the case then the rapture should have happened in 2008.
I could go on. But I’ll wait until someone can supply cogent, consistent, biblical answers to the questions above before asking anymore questions. Comment below, but you better hurry, only 2 days left!