(click to enlarge)
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Quote of the Week
In a loquacious meandering opinionated piece in the NY Times, Professor McMahan suggests that perhaps “we could arrange the gradual extinction of carnivorous species, replacing them with new herbivorous ones.”
“Theologians have had enough trouble explaining to their human flocks why a loving god permits them to suffer; but their labors will not be over even if they are finally able to justify the ways of God to man. For God must answer to animals as well. If I had been in a position to design and create a world, I would have tried to arrange for all conscious individuals to be able to survive without tormenting and killing other conscious individuals. ” (Professor Jeff McMahan)
It appears that Professor McMahan thinks God should bear the “Imago Homo”.
“Theologians have had enough trouble explaining to their human flocks why a loving god permits them to suffer; but their labors will not be over even if they are finally able to justify the ways of God to man. For God must answer to animals as well. If I had been in a position to design and create a world, I would have tried to arrange for all conscious individuals to be able to survive without tormenting and killing other conscious individuals. ” (Professor Jeff McMahan)
It appears that Professor McMahan thinks God should bear the “Imago Homo”.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Unadulterated...
Should we say, "perhaps you should try Jesus as your savior" ...almost with a consumer market oriented mentality"?. "There are lots of religious options and if you try this particular religious option you might like it." ...
No... rather, Jesus is Lord and He will soon be invading with His armies. He is offering pardon in advance of His invasion and should you receive the pardon and ally yourself with Him now before He invades, when He comes you will be considered His ally and He will raise you to Kingship. The alternative is to be under the wrath of the king. It is not some kind of religious option. It is an announcement that a new king is on the throne and he'll be invading. The gospel is not an invitation to an array of a buffet style of choices, it is a command. Will you heed the command? Jesus is Lord, repent and believe. (William Wilder)
No... rather, Jesus is Lord and He will soon be invading with His armies. He is offering pardon in advance of His invasion and should you receive the pardon and ally yourself with Him now before He invades, when He comes you will be considered His ally and He will raise you to Kingship. The alternative is to be under the wrath of the king. It is not some kind of religious option. It is an announcement that a new king is on the throne and he'll be invading. The gospel is not an invitation to an array of a buffet style of choices, it is a command. Will you heed the command? Jesus is Lord, repent and believe. (William Wilder)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Bible...Authoritative or Just Good Advice?
My curiosity got the better of me recently. I was listening to the 12 minute audio in the previous post and I wondered where the adult SS teacher’s son is now. We know he studied at Gordon-Conwell and we know he wasn’t in the PCUSA, and we know he grew up in the PC(USA) and his parents now attend Colonial. Enter...”Google”. After a few select search words..”voila”...he is now pastor of an evangelical church. I sent an e-mail and here is his wonderful and instructive response:
Dave,
Thank you for your message. I just listened to the audio. It is good to hear my dad’s voice standing up for the authority and truth of scripture and God’s grace offered to the world through Jesus Christ. He has shared with me a good deal about Colonial’s decision to leave the PC(USA). From what I hear, you have made a difficult and wise decision, and I pray that God will protect Colonial and its leaders during this transition. In my view, the struggle you are engaged in with the Heartland Presbytery is a microcosm of our society and the state of the Christian church in America today. The issue all traces back to the question of authority. Our society has long since abandoned scripture as authoritative for personal and social morality, and now the mainline church is joining that “progressive” movement away from the authority of scripture in favor of individualism and subjective truth.
There comes a point when a church is no longer a church, when a gathering of religiously-minded people who no longer hold to the basic teachings of the New Testament and of Jesus our Lord ceases to be a Christian church. That point of departure is not defined by you or me, but by Jesus Himself, who warned the ancient Ephesian church that if they did not repent and return to their “first love”: “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Rev. 2:4-6). The lampstand here represents the church (Rev. 1:20) which burns with the light of Christ and is fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rev. 11:4; Zech. 4:1-6). Many mainline churches seem to be walking this line, and Colonial is wise to move decisively in a new direction that honors our Lord.
Thanks again for sharing your blog with me and thank you for publically proclaiming the truth of Christ.
Mike
Pastor Mike Mirakian
Dave,
Thank you for your message. I just listened to the audio. It is good to hear my dad’s voice standing up for the authority and truth of scripture and God’s grace offered to the world through Jesus Christ. He has shared with me a good deal about Colonial’s decision to leave the PC(USA). From what I hear, you have made a difficult and wise decision, and I pray that God will protect Colonial and its leaders during this transition. In my view, the struggle you are engaged in with the Heartland Presbytery is a microcosm of our society and the state of the Christian church in America today. The issue all traces back to the question of authority. Our society has long since abandoned scripture as authoritative for personal and social morality, and now the mainline church is joining that “progressive” movement away from the authority of scripture in favor of individualism and subjective truth.
There comes a point when a church is no longer a church, when a gathering of religiously-minded people who no longer hold to the basic teachings of the New Testament and of Jesus our Lord ceases to be a Christian church. That point of departure is not defined by you or me, but by Jesus Himself, who warned the ancient Ephesian church that if they did not repent and return to their “first love”: “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Rev. 2:4-6). The lampstand here represents the church (Rev. 1:20) which burns with the light of Christ and is fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rev. 11:4; Zech. 4:1-6). Many mainline churches seem to be walking this line, and Colonial is wise to move decisively in a new direction that honors our Lord.
Thanks again for sharing your blog with me and thank you for publically proclaiming the truth of Christ.
Mike
Pastor Mike Mirakian
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Arrogance or Orthodoxy?
The audio I’ve included here, to me, is an amazing look at the handi-work of God. Some of you know that our home church, Colonial Presbyterian Kansas City, has voted nearly unanimously to disaffiliate with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and to change our affiliation to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. (EPC) We have been in a period of “discernment” since Jan 2010 to see if the Lord was leading us to make this change. We had taken an unofficial survey to determine the mind of the congregation in all this. The survey resulted in a nearly 91% favorable vote to disaffiliate.
Our congregation had been in much prayer and we truly sought the leading of the Lord. I personally prayed that He would confirm His leading in the official vote by greater than the surveyed 91%. When the official vote was actually taken on Aug 22, 2010 the vote was 97% in favor of leaving. I believe the exchange you will hear was one of the major factors leading to the resulting vote. This audio is of our very first Town Hall Meeting that took place at our Quivira campus on March 27, 2010. Invited were Colonial members and the Heartland Presbytery Administrative Review Committee. Four Presbyters were in attendance along with a full house of members.
What you will hear in the 12 minute 46 second audio clip is outlined as follows:
1. A questioner asks that we as a congregation be provided with a list of the issues that we have with the Heartland Presbytery and the PCUSA in general.
2. One of our Adult Sunday School teachers talks about how his son was treated by the Heartland Presbytery when applying for sponsorship to seminary, then about the Confessing Church Movement and ends with a pertinent question to the Presbyters that are in attendance.
3. A Presbyter responds to the question.
4. A Colonial Elder responds to the Presbyter.
The entire one hour 20 minute audio is available here: http://www.colonialkc.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=35021&PID=776293
(click on Town Hall Meetings March 27th audio)
Below is the 12+ minute clip:
Our congregation had been in much prayer and we truly sought the leading of the Lord. I personally prayed that He would confirm His leading in the official vote by greater than the surveyed 91%. When the official vote was actually taken on Aug 22, 2010 the vote was 97% in favor of leaving. I believe the exchange you will hear was one of the major factors leading to the resulting vote. This audio is of our very first Town Hall Meeting that took place at our Quivira campus on March 27, 2010. Invited were Colonial members and the Heartland Presbytery Administrative Review Committee. Four Presbyters were in attendance along with a full house of members.
What you will hear in the 12 minute 46 second audio clip is outlined as follows:
1. A questioner asks that we as a congregation be provided with a list of the issues that we have with the Heartland Presbytery and the PCUSA in general.
2. One of our Adult Sunday School teachers talks about how his son was treated by the Heartland Presbytery when applying for sponsorship to seminary, then about the Confessing Church Movement and ends with a pertinent question to the Presbyters that are in attendance.
3. A Presbyter responds to the question.
4. A Colonial Elder responds to the Presbyter.
The entire one hour 20 minute audio is available here: http://www.colonialkc.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=35021&PID=776293
(click on Town Hall Meetings March 27th audio)
Below is the 12+ minute clip:
(click on the play button)
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