Attack of the Unleavened Tacos

/in /by

With the Days of Unleavened Bread right around the corner, it seems a good time to bring out this short story. During the Days of Unleavened Bread many years ago when I was pastoring congregations in Missouri, I had a trip out of town for a ministerial visit that saw me leaving rather hastily and not taking anything to eat with me, though the trip would end up keeping me out until far past dinner time. So, that night I eventually visited the drive-thru of a popular fast food joint to grab some cornflour (and unleavened) “hard shell” tacos. (I won’t mention the name of the place, but it rhymed with Spock Hotel…) I used the drive-thru because I didn’t want to lose any time on the road.

Read more

Podcast: Let’s Talk About that Oscars Slap

/in /by

No, we didn’t watch the Oscars. But whether you watched them or not, it’s hard to escape the footage of Will Smith’s now-infamous on-stage slap of Chris Rock after the comedian’s joke concerning Mrs. Smith’s shaved head. Frankly, the new Best Actor award winner could have used Mr. Robinson’s advice here in this podcast! What’s going on in our culture that enabled a moment like this? And how would you have handled it? Let’s do some biblical thinking! Click below to listen. (Scroll below the video for two related links.)

If you are interested, here is a link to the YouGov survey we refer to in the video. The results look a tad different than described in the podcast, partially due to changes in the age-group boundaries and possibly due to additional data since the early results we looked at, but the trend is still the same, illustrating a significant difference between the perception of younger and older individuals. Also, here is a link to that earlier post that unpacks and examines Will Smith’s statement “Love will make you do crazy things.”

The Promise of a Brand New Beginning

/in /by

We published an old commentary by Mr. Jonathan McNair recently that was (1) related to Passover, (2) referenced recently in a sermon by Mr. Weston, and (3) so very, very encouraging. It highlights that Passover isn’t just about looking backward and that all of us can gain hope from the promise that’s available to us through God’s forgiveness and merciful aid—the promise that we can, at any time, create a brand new beginning.

We’d like to link to it here for you to consider reading as the Spring Holy Days approach. It’s a very short read and well worth the little time it takes: “The End of the Beginning.”

A Lesson from (sigh) the Oscars: “Love will make you do crazy things.” Really?

/in /by

OK. This is not meant as encouragement to watch the Oscars each year. The audience levels for the Oscars are dying, and they should be allowed to die. But when something newsworthy (or “newsworthy,” with appropriate quote marks) happens during them, there is can be something to learn from it. Here’s a hot take about last night’s.

Read more

Podcast: So, if Christ has a tattoo, can I get one?

/in /by

Today’s podcast features a novel take on the age-old question of tattoos! Does Revelation 19:16 imply Jesus Christ had a tattoo? And if so, does that mean we can get one?

The answer is straightforward, but there’s more to consider, starting with a follow-up question: Why do you want one?

We hope you enjoy the podcast! And afterward, you might want to check out a related oldie-but-goodie: Dr. Scott Winnail’s Living Church News article “Body Ink: What Does God Think?” (Clicking the link should open it in a separate tab so you can keep playing the podcast.)

One of the Most Successful Arguments for God’s Existence

/in /by

Sometimes you know how worthwhile something is because of how much it is hated by some people. And the famous Kalam Cosmological Argument is such a thing.

The argument, affectionately known as the “Kalam” by some, has been promoted by popular apologist (guy arguing in debates that God exists) Dr. William Lane Craig, and it is simple but powerful. It has inspired passionate resistance among atheists—even whole documentaries devoted to trying to explain it away—all of which always falls short. (Concerning the categories of proof and evidence in our booklet The Real God: Proofs and Promises, it seems to fit in the “Creation Demands a Creator” category.)

The argument says, essentially, that everything that begins to exist at some point has to have a cause behind it, and, since the universe began to exist at some point in the past, the universe, therefore, has to have a cause. Pretty normal stuff. Yet, the cause of the universe can’t be some “ordinary” thing—the cause has to exist beyond space, beyond time, and matter, and beyond energy, since all of those things are part of the universe. In fact, the more you explore what that cause must be, the more you find yourself exploring attributes of God.

While apologetics (reasoned arguments in favor of something—in this case, in favor of God’s existence) are not everyone’s cup of tea, being able to defend why you think God exists is increasingly important. If those sorts of discussions are interesting to you, then the video below might be of interest, as well.

Podcast: If We’re “Salt”… Should We Vote?

/in /by

Today’s podcast involves a question that has floated around among some Church of God youth in recent years: If Jesus calls Christians the “salt of the earth” (He did) and if salt is used as a preservative and purifying agent (it is), then does that imply we should vote in elections in today’s world to help preserve and purify the world in some way? As the world gets more “exciting” (that is, “awful”), the pressure to participate in worldly ways of “fixing” it will grow, and this statement by Christ is sometimes used to justify a “Christian obligation” to vote, etc., that frankly [Spoiler Alert!] does not exist. As usual, in discussing the topic, we tend to roam a little, and you may learn more about salt than you ever wanted to. Hopefully, we get most of it right, but you “salt knowledgable” scientists out there are welcome to weigh in and let us know otherwise!