A Christian Thinker

Mattel’s Apology

a_christian_thinker — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 01:20:26 +0000

When I heard the news regarding Mattel’s forced apology to the Chinese government, I was ashamed. I am sure that I am like most Boomers and GenXer’s in that Mattel, Matchbox, Hasbro, Lego and Kenner were some of the first brands we were aware of. They were the makers of our toys and by extension, those were our companies. Mattel’s groveling at the feet of the ChiComm thugs was a low point in the history of American business. Has it gotten to the point where American business is so embedded in China that the ChiComms can make demands that force our companies to their knees in apology?
A partnership that is not an exact fifty-fifty split is not really a partnership because the party that controls 51% or more is the true owner and the other party is merely a very concerned bystander. When you enter into a relationship with a totalitarian government, that’s exactly what you are also – a very concerned bystander. I would bet anything that the ChiComms demanded the apology with the understanding that to do otherwise would be to the detriment of Mattel’s Chinese investments.

Moving

a_christian_thinker — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 00:51:42 +0000

I’ve been in the process of moving and have not had time to add anything to the page or even follow other blogs.

Attack Dog Of Christianity Today

a_christian_thinker — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:15:06 +0000

Christianity Today had a post against Christian Discernment websites – (Attack Dogs of Christianity) http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/august/23.52.html

It’s really a sad hit piece because I’ve always thought Christianity Today’s position of trying to get everyone to get along was a little naive and disrespectful to the memory of two thousand years worth of Christian martyrs. People have given their lives for defending some of the theological positions that David Aikman attacked in his article.

It seems that Aikman really feels like discernment ministries are wrong to point out doctrinal issues even though we’ve been commanded to be discerning Bereans. I think there are two analogies that may demonstrate what these sites really are up to:

First, if you have the opportunity to stop someone from hurting themselves by covering or filling in a hole, barricading a trench, calling out to them if they’re about to walk into traffic, and you don’t, you are liable for that person’s injuries. It’s the same way with these ministries – there is a sincere desire to keep others from hurting themselves by pursing false doctrine. If this is considered attacking in today’s evangelical culture, that really sad and shows how far most evangelicals are from the truth.

Second, there are sites that allow people to track the whereabouts of sexual predators and there are people who feel that is unfair toward those listed in the database. I think discernment sites do the same thing by identifying pastors who have freaky doctrine or are more interested in growing a church and getting rich than discipling believers and proclaiming Christ. This type of “pastor” is a predator and the children of God should be warned.

I think that Christianity Today is the voice of modern “Christianity Incorporated” and as such unity and a peaceful happy family is in their advertisers’ best interest. After all, if Christianity Today had editorials that critiqued the lightweight or heretical theology in some of today’s “Christian” bestsellers, do you think Nelson, Lifeway and NavPress would continue to advertise? Unity and tranquility are good for business and David Aikman just didn’t want us to forget that.

Katrina Memories

a_christian_thinker — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:14:51 +0000

The image that still bothers me was from a day or so after the levees broke when FoxNews’ Shep Smith was walking down a New Orleans street in waist deep water and come across a woman sitting on the back of a bus stop bench. He asked her what she was doing. She told him she was waiting on the bus. He looked at her in disbelief and said “Ma’am, you are standing in raw sewage and toxic waste, you need to get out of here – the bus is not coming.”She said, “No sir, you are wrong – the bus is coming. The government just wouldn’t leave us down here.” This woman had been raised to expect the government to supply her income, food, transportation and housing. She had never been taught to take care of herself and tragically, the government she had been taught to depend on did not rescue her.Prior to Katrina, if you had asked the average NO resident how their city’s flood protection system worked, they might have shrugged their shoulders and pointed at a levee, but if you had asked them to tell you the route of the Endymion parade, they would have been able to tell you the route to the inch. The residents’ priorities were all in the wrong place and they have been for years. Everyone knew that the “big one” was coming some day, but they did nothing about it.In spite of that churches all over the country rose to the task of helping the residents get through the first few weeks. The Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Teams beat FEMA down there and while money is still mired in governmental bureaucracy, folks from every walk of life reached down in their pockets and within themselves to meet the needs – for a while.The situation in the area is rather sad – people are still living in FEMA trailers and Federal Katrina money is being spent on pork projects like building new car dealerships in the Baton Rouge area.

Back to the Future

a_christian_thinker — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 01:18:36 +0000

Ingrid Schlueter over at A Slice of Laodicea has an interesting post regarding the rising popularity of certain aspects of Catholicism among disillusioned evangelicals – http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/?p=707

I was reminded of two things – First, I was introduced to Francis by the late Rich Mullins when he and members of his band formed “The Kid Brothers Of St. Frank” – http://www.richmullins.com/ Toward the end of his life Rich had become fascinated with the mystical, symbolic and historical aspects of Catholicism and it was rumored that Rich was contemplating converting to Roman Catholicism prior to his death. It was well known that Rich was disillusioned with evangelicalism and I think Rich was sincere in what he was seeking, but he went looking in the wrong direction.

Second, I thought about something that occured several years ago, when a friend who was an ordained PCA minister, converted to Catholicism Lite by becoming a Charismatic Episcopalian – http://www.iccec.org/ He also was disillusioned with the emptiness and shallowness of evangelicalism and found it by becoming a Charismatic Episcopalian priest. After seeing pictures of his fellow priests and reading some of his writings, I think the appeal for him was found in the trappings of the Roman Catholic Church – the robes, candles, titles (He now prefaces his name with “Father”) and the level of respect for his clerical position that was unavailable in the PCA. To me, the pictures looked like some sort of religious Renaissance Faire where guys were playing clerical dress-up.

I guess the evangelical circus is some sort of drug and when someone comes down off of it, they start looking for something to fill what they were hoping to find originally. Unfortunately, there are things out there waiting that are just as empty and shallow.

Statement of Faith – Part One

a_christian_thinker — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:45:23 +0000

1. - We believe in the divine, Verbal Plenary Inspiration and Verbal Plenary Preservation of the Scriptures in the original languages, their consequent inerrancy and infallibility, and as the perfect Word of God, the supreme and final authority in faith and life.

Back in 1983 or 1984, I was in what was known then as the “Red Room” at LSU’s Baptist Student Center (for some reason known then as the “BSU”). I overheard two fellows, one, the then president of the BSU and the other a former BSU president, arguing over “the inerrancy of scripture”. This was the first time I had ever heard that phrase and of the controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention that it represented. The whole thing seemed strange to me because up until that time I had always thought that you were either a Christian who believed the bible or you weren’t a Christian. It was an entirely new concept that there were folks who professed Christianity and didn’t accept the bible as the infallible word of God. To this day, I still don’t believe that it is possible to hold such a position and still be a Christian.I interrupted these two gentlemen (let’s call them, Brad and Rudy) and asked, “So, are you saying that you don’t believe that the original manuscripts are without error or are saying that we don’t have a representative example of the original manuscripts?” Brad gave me a patronizing smile and said, “Well, I don’t believe the bible we have now accurately represents the original manuscripts and that we wouldn’t be able to properly interpret them if we had them, but Rudy isn’t sure the original manuscripts are 100% inspired in the first place.”Incredulously, I looked at both of them and asked, “So neither one of you believe that the bible is the entire, complete, Word of God?” They both nodded sheepishly.I stepped back and took a deep breath and said, “Let me ask you one more thing: If you don’t believe the bible is the word of God, then logically you have no basis for your faith because you really don’t know what to believe. So that would make your “faith” more like wishful thinking. If that’s the case, then why are you here?” Their blank stares indicated that they hadn’t thought through the issue to that level yet.

I continued, “If the bible isn’t your standard, why put of with all of the junk it takes to be a Baptist. I mean, if you don’t believe or can’t be sure what to believe, being Baptist is a total farce and a real pain – no drinking, no dancing, tithing. Why do it? Wouldn’t it be easier to be agnostic and go bass fishing on Sunday morning?” Without answering they laughed and walked away.

I still feel that way and want to take it back one more notch – if you don’t believe the bible is the word of God, why be a Christian at all? If you can’t trust God to preserve His Word, how would be able to trust him to save you? What’s the point – may as well eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow you might die and return to the dust and it would all be over.

I don’t want to anyone to think that I am adding a legalistic condition to salvation by faith through grace. There are many things that go along with our conversion that are supernatural acts that act as indications of the new birth and I think the Holy Spirit must open up someone’s mind and heart to accept the Bible as the Word of God. You can not make a decision to accept the Bible without the Holy Spirit making it possible. On the other hand, if you are a professing Christian and have made a conscious decision to reject the Bible, then I would ask you to examine your heart and state before God.

BUT, if you are a believer and find yourself doubting the trustworthiness of the Bible, I feel that is a natural part of growing as a Christian. Ask God to change your mind and show you importance In a future post, we’ll look at what “verbal, plenary inspiration is” and why it matters.

Hello world!

a_christian_thinker — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:43:57 +0000

The title isn’t meant to imply that I believe myself to be a deep or intellectual thinker. I just think about things differently than the average evangelical and I spend a lot of time in thought.