In commenting on the weakness of the contemporary church, home school activist Kevin Swanson ridiculed the propensity of some to gravitate towards megachurches. But other than pewfilling, what other ministry opportunities are available in smaller churches with so little turnover that the same handful hold what few positions that there are decade after decade?
In condemning an alleged consumerism that prompts many contemporary Christians to quest for a church that answers a longing that sometimes isn’t necessarily doctrinal or even liturgical, can’t that criticism also be an attempt on the part of church leaders to justify their own second-rate service or product?
Contrary to what a fanatic homeschooler mused, why shouldn't you leave a church where your child is mocked for being overweight?
Those calling for more of an emphasis on the Old Testament, in all likelihood, won't be satisfied with increased doses of Psalms, Proverbs, or the Messianic prophecies. In a manner similar to the way these same theologians enunciate the lamentation that no Christian candidates are running in a particular election as code that no candidate embraces their particular brand of theocratic extremism, this call is for a renewed emphasis on the Old Testament is actually a longing to see many of the obscure laws and customs intended specifically for ancient Israel to be imposed upon the world of the early mid twenty-first century.
A fanatic homeschooler threw a tizzy about a growing trend of people being buried alongside their pets. So long as the animal's life is not prematurely ended, does it really matter? It is claimed that this practice undermines the preeminence of human relationships. So I guess you are also a heathen now if your family doesn't feed those assembled to gawk at your corpse that wouldn't pass gas in your face when you were alive.
An ecclesiastical catch 22. The ones that insist that church is such a serious matter that it is not enough to have a youth group that balances the needs for study and recreation but that the truly pious church should have no youth ministry at all wold turn around and condemn any recreation or socialization that takes place beyond the bounds of the church.
The churches that don't believe in any age-targeted or specific activities are the same ones that would preach hellfire and brimstone if the youth want anything other than prune juice and oat bran at a church picnic or don't sit as still as a arthritic 90 year old.
So if God had the Gospel preached at those He did not so much knew would not accept Him but rather He interfered with their volitional ability to decide for themselves as to the veracity of the message presented just so He could up the temperature of Hell a few degrees, wouldn't that make Him a bit of a snot?
Shouldn't theologians that preach against going to the store on Sunday refrain from other recreational pursuits as well on their imposed Day of Rest? If not, is their problem not so much against using the day for something other than religious observance but rather about an antipathy towards capitalism or commerce?
Certain theologians are arguing that federal employees and retirees unsettled by their financial prospects during the government shutdown are serving government rather than God. So if someone working in the private sector expressed similar concerns, would they be condemned for serving Mammon? Not everyone can be a missionary capable of standing before a congregation and guilt trip the assembled into emptying their wallets into the collection plate. Furthermore, from what sector of the economy does the tribute flowing into ecclesiastical hands originate anyway?
It is claimed that retirement is not a Biblical concept. Neither is really anything other than grueling physical labor mentioned in the pages of Scripture either. However, those insisting the elderly remain in the workforce until they literally drop have hardly soiled their hands in this fashion a day in their life.
If a pastor argues that it is a sin to gaze upon Halloween imagery, is it a sin for the pastor to mention and describe Halloween imagery verbally since vocalized words produce images in the mind?
Regarding these men that go around beating their chests how women should be forced to wear headcoverings and not allowed to wear pants: the effort is probably more about the approval and rewards from the group (primarily that of other men) than actually about the approval of God.
I should probably look at it this way. The women that by their own uncoerced choice that go into marriages that are going to have the Bible beaten over their heads about headcoverings and pants are probably getting exactly what they deserve and want. The ones to feel sorry for are the children (especially the girls) born into such situations that have no say in the matter.
In certain hardline Fundamentalist Christian circles, is compliance with secondary standards about pleasing God or avoiding the disapproval of the hierarchy?
On the National Geographic series “Snake Salvation”, the misapplied scripture regarding serpent handling is obvious. However, what's the deal about dancing around the church with a Molotov cocktail in hand?
Interesting how those worked up in favor of a perpetual literal application of women in headcoverings aren't as fired up for Jesus in regards to the perpetuity of snake handling. I guess being bossy towards woman provides the more satisfying yet safer buzz.
Calvinism sets up many that encounter the soteriology's most strident forms for spiritual desperation. On the one hand, its most rigorous adherents constantly bash those within earshot as puss-filled sacks of sin. Yet unlike other brands of Christianity with an awareness of the pervasiveness of sin such as a more dispensationalist fundamentalism or even a conservative Catholicism, the consistent Calvinist denies the guilt laden individual the opportunity to make a decision in favor of repentance. No one asked to be born nor consulted in the Garden of Eden regarding the forbidden fruit. One would think that a descent God would at least give the individual the choice as to whether or not they are amicable to the only resolution provided to this overwhelming existential crisis.
A radical homeschooler suggests young people should go to work rather than pursue formal education. And what if no business with any kind of decent future is willing to hire a young person without education or experience?
Something to ponder. Are more children turned off to Christianity as a result of a boisterous hardline opposition against Halloween than drawn towards the occult as a result of a lax position in regards to Halloween?
When a pastor qualifies what they’ve said by assuring that they simply want you to make up your mind on a secondary matter based on all of the available information, will you be allowed to retain your standing or position in a congregation if you come to a conclusion different than what the pastor is advocating?
Utterly fascinating how the elderly justify their own Halloween revelry while condemning contemporary youth for participating in the exact same festivities by claiming theirs was a different time. So if it is Satanic now, why not back then?
I have a small scarecrow on my door. Is that a violation of the verse that tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear?
A dichotomy is being set up that, on Oct. 31, one has to pick either the Reformation or Halloween to celebrate. However, this day is still 24 hours long like any other. So is it going to be insisted that thoughts of the Reformation must occupy all 24 of these? Most kids Trick-Or-Treat for only an hour or two.
Why shouldn't mothers barreling towards police and barricades like bats out of Ghenna have a cap popped in them?
Biker gang members threatening motorists should be run over.
I guess law enforcement should have instead tossed welfare checks and complimentary smartphones at the lunatic WOMANNNNN during the vehicular incident at the U.S. Capitol.
O'Reilly and Geraldo are blaming the DC motorist altercation at the Capitol on the Internet and Under The Dome. Don't others make similar allegations regarding Fox News?
According to O'Reilly, if you support free expression online, you are likely a NAMBLA sympathizer.
On The Fox Report with Bret Baier, isn't it a bit of overkill to feature George Will and Charles Krauthammar on the same panel since both of these pundits essentially represent a nearly identical variety of establishmentarian conservatism?
One ponders if a commentary superstar such as George Will was added to the Fox lineup in the attempt to counter CNN's resurrected Crossfire. The announcement of his appearance prompted me to forget all about my 6:30 PM viewing preference.
Does the eatery offering a burger mocking Christianity by putting a communion wafer on top possess the backbone to offer a pork product ridiculing the religion with an explosives fetish?
Under Obamacare, the dingbat setting himself ablaze on the Mall in DC would probably be bumped to the head of the line above an octogenarian needing medical treatment.
If contemporary liberals insist that homosexual behavior is no more deviant or shameful than mainstream marriage, why was portraying the Speaker of the House as one on Saturday Night Live deemed humorous?
With the government shutdown, since she doesn’t technically hold employment outside the home, shouldn’t Michelle be required to cook the Obama family meals herself? After, isn’t locally grown organic food suppose to be her bailiwick?
Under the Obama regime, jackboots have removed an elderly couple living in a privately owned home located on public land. With nowhere else to go, the couple has sought shelter in their ice cream shop. How long until in the name of the couple’s health and safety the ice cream shop is burned to the ground with the couple in it?
If we aren't going to be told the identity of the lunatic that set himself ablaze on the Mall in Washington, we should assume he was a radical Jihadist until told otherwise.
Under the kinds of medical insurance reforms advocated by fanatic leftists, “gender reassignment” would be covered. However, prostate cancer likely wouldn't since it is usually a condition that afflicts the elderly. So since many prostate therapies and procedures rob the individual of the joys of possessing a masculine organ beyond the passage through which liquid waste exits the body, perhaps those suffering this disease should just go ahead and get a sex change operation. And when it's all over with, such individuals can also be lavished with the benefits, approval, and applause now being lavished upon same sex couples these days.
If WorldNetDaily is announcing that the so-called Blood Moons of 2014 are heralding the possible Apocalypse, aren't they on verge of making the same errors as Harold Camping?
Shouldn't the Capitol Hill police have opened fire on the illegal alien rally for blocking the street the way they did the lunatic motorist?
Apparently Obama has greater respect for the body of Bin Laden than he does for those of fallen veterans.
In the October 2013 edition of “Perspectives On History”, a National Park Service historian is profiled in the “What I Do: Historians Talk About Their Work” segment. Part of her duties included interviewing longtime employees about their service and careers. What guarantee do these bureaucratic functionaries have that the information gathered about them won't be used to manipulate them out of their retirements?
It is amazing how the same liberals fretting now over how the government's bills will be paid are the same ones that agitated to run the tab through the roof in the first place.
The same educators banning nearly every activity a rambunctious child would enjoy stand around dumbfounded over increasing obesity rates and the inability of students to sit still in the presence of pedagogues that can barely teach.
In a HH Greg commercial, a Black spokesman ends the spot with the remark with “whatever it is people do on Columbus Day.” Would a similar advertisement featuring a White spokesman commenting, “whatever it is people do on Martin Luther King Day” be broadcast?
And what if Virgin Airline tycoon left Britain for tax purposes? In the New World Order, will we only be granted permission to move for a predetermined number of reasons?
Barbara Boxer has compared the Republican position in the budget crisis to domestic abuse. That's liberal woman speak that they shouldn't not even be permitted to enunciate their position.
Fifty percent of adults have not read a book in the past year. And why should we care? Not everyone is into the same hobbies.
Snobs often remark about the average newspaper being written on an eighth grade level. Are those with only that level of comprehension suppose to be kept in the dark or something as to what is going on in the world?
If homeschool activists are going to condemn parents that have professional educators teach their children how to read, does the same judgment also apply to parents unable to remove their own child’s appendix?
Buccaneers are essentially pirates Thus, shouldn't the Tampa NFL team change its name out of respect for the victims of these heinous crimes and atrocities committed on the high seas?
As a former community organizer, wasn't President Obama one of the professional activists he categorizes as profiting from conflict?
Maybe the broad that got socked in the face at the football game got what was coming to her.
Interesting how one particular Tea Party website is calling for a coup but I was threatened with ostracism from the movement for simply posting an essay simply examining the principles and implications of atheism.
A Facebook status update downplays viewing the Song of Solomon as a Judeo-Christian sex manual. If there isn't that aspect to the document, isn't it a bit creepy for Jesus to be obsessed with the church's breasts?
Concern is being expressed that an upgrade to a local public transportation rail system will impact the homes and businesses in immigrant COMMUNITIES. If full scale Americans (especially White ones) were the ones impacted, no social engineers would give a flip.
In a distributed DIVERSITY awareness tip, it was emphasized that the native English speaker is the one obligated to alter and improve their communication skills rather than the refuse washing up on America's shores.
It is fascinating that how, prior to the passage of Obamacare, it was a tragedy in desperate need of correction for a shocking percentage of an individual's or family's income to go towards medical costs but now, with the passage of that legislation, those raising this concern are dangerous subversives that ought to instead enthusiastically contribute to this essential social obligation.
Why shouldn't kids in peewee sports get a small trophy or at least a certificate for just participating. There is nothing saying they have to be there. They can always just stay home and play on the computer or watch DVD's.
Interesting how in adaptation of the Elvis Presley song "All Shook Up" used in the Trojan Personal lubricant commercial the word's "in love" have been removed. After all, why should something like emotional attachment at least get in the way of fornication?
Terry McAullife leaving his wife and new born baby in the car to make a fundraising appearance was quite heartless. However, would his wife have married him if he was a regular working stiff and not a bigshot that puts the accumulation of power above all else?
In regards to the part of the state where only dial up Internet has been available, a Maryland official claims that high speed broadband is a necessity or right like clean running water. As such, will parents failing to provide this luxury for their progeny be punished as child abusers?
In a sermon on the seven sins of Halloween, a pastor listed as one of these transgressions the failure to think for yourself. By that, the pastor intended to mean the tendency to go along with the herd mentality rather than for the individual to come to a conclusion regarding a particular topic through a process of personal cogitation. However, in regards to a controversial topic such as this, don't we all have the tendency to degenerate that principle to condemnation of those that don't think as we have told them to in regards to the matter cf secondary doctrine under consideration?
In condemning the seven sins of Halloween, a fanatic Baptist pastor said that it was a sin if a man did not dress and act in a manly manner. While that is true in terms of obviously female articles of clothing such as frilly dresses and high heels, who is to make this determination in regards to less obvious items? For example, in the sermon, the pastor condemned any article of clothing purchased at Urban Outfitters or the Gap. The pastor went on to admonish that men were to talk and act like men. So is a man destined for Hell if he has a greater affinity for cats rather than dogs and wears a particular color on a distinctively male item of clothing?
Frederick Meekins is an independent theologian and social critic. Frederick holds a BS in Political Science/History, a MA in Apologetics/Christian Philosophy from Trinity Theological Seminary, and a PhD. in Christian Apologetics from Newburgh Theological Seminary.
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