Tag Bible

November issue of “Pop Goes the Gospel” Blog Carnival

Allen Frederick 3 Comments

Welcome to the November, 2008 edition of pop goes the gospel.I had to post this a day late because Blog Carnival was having some maintenance done on their servers when I attempted to access the Carnivals managers page. Anyway a little late but well worth it. This month I had many excellent submissions to “Pop Goes the Gospel”, several from the same author, I chose the best of the submissions and encourage those who posted several posts to this carnival to post again to next month’s edition. I try not to post multiple entries from the same blogger so as not to give more coverage to any one blog. I will certainly include additional articles in later editions if you resubmit them.
SO WITHOUT ADDITIONAL DELAY LET US GET ON WITH THE CARNIVAL!

IN Church Life

Tammy Riggs presents Do you love me more than these? posted at Riggs Report – On to Andahuaylas, saying, “A challenge to examine your priorities and service.” A simple straight forward word to the church to examine our motives and see if we “Love Him more than these”

andriel presents Word of Faith: The Demotion of God posted at ReturningKing.com, saying, “Wolves in Wool: Creeps in The Church, is the title of this series on false teachers and false doctrines. This study will be updated weekly, so be sure to subscribe for updates.” andriel submitted several posts from his blog and I only included this one in this issue. I encourage andriel to submit subsequent posts to later editions of the blog carnival. Andriel takes on the Word of faith preachers in this article and blogcast. Check it out.

Trevor Watkinson presents Prayer and Fasting posted at SaveYourSweat.com Blog, saying, “How prayer and fasting can change your life.” Trevor submitted two articles to this blog carnival and I chose to include this one. His blog covers the gambit of self-improvement using biblical principles. This one on prayer and fasting is well worth the read. It is good medicine to deny ourselves certain pleasures in order to find a closer relationship with God.

Yvette Nietzen presents Supernatural Prison Break . posted at Fresh Wind Ministries, Int´lYvette, a frequent poster has submitted a good post on Paul and Silas’s prison break. No it is not taken from the Television show of the same name but it is a good article. Thank you Yvette.

In Culture

Angelawd presents Shopgirl gets over herself posted at angelawd, saying, “Even the most humble tasks can bring us closer to Jesus’s attitude.” How scrubbing the urinal taught humility.

Daniel Partin presents Defending The Shack: Black Madonna posted at Prophet For Hire: A blog for those seeking relationship with God.Daniel writes an interesting review of the Book the Black Madonna. I really can neither endorse or pan the book because I have not read it. However I found Daniels review of a review of the book interesting to read. I am not sure I wish to actually read the book The Black Madonna however.

Nathan Creitz presents Organic and Sustainable Christianity posted at Nathan Creitz.Putting feet to our faith. Taking action when action is presented to us is what I got from reading this post by Nathan.

The Traveler presents Statue of Liberty – history posted at Ellis Island – Statue of Liberty, saying, “Some history about the statue of liberty.” Everyone could use a refresher course on United States History so I allowed the Traveler to post this blog entry.

In Family

Tiffany Partin presents The Proof Is In The Pictures posted at Fathom Deep: Sounding the Depths of God.Pictorial display of Hurricane Ike’s effect on Bayview. Let us continue to pray for those effected by the Ire of Ike.

ChristianPF presents Encouraging Bible Verses for the Financial Crisis posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “What the Bible has to say about the financial crisis” What more needs to be said?

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of pop goes the gospel using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Pop Goes The Gospel August Edition

Allen Frederick

Each edition of “Pop Goes the Gospel” will be posted on the 30th of each month. Please be sure to get your submissions in by the 25th to be included in each month’s edition. Any article that relates scripture to “pop culture” will be accepted. Take note: Any submission that does not meet the requirements of traditional Christian values may be refused.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of “Pop Goes the Gospel”! Use our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Welcome to the August 31, 2008 edition of Pop Goes the Gospel. Where the age old Gospel message meets modern pop culture. I received many excellent articles for this edition and I included the best ones below. If you submitted an article and find it not listed in this month’s edition please check with the submission guidelines to be sure your article met with the guidelines of this blog carnival.

Now start the music as we stroll down the midway.

From Church Life

ChristianPF presents 12 Ways to turn a bad day into a better one posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Everybody has bad days – these are a few ways to fix them…”

Daniel Partin presents The Church Papa Built posted at Prophet For Hire: A blog for those seeking relationship with God.Daniel like his prophetic namesake stirs us to take another look at the Church from the ‘Father’s’ perspective. I found his article very thought provoking. Perhaps he could write a series on how the Father looks at most of our comings and goings? What say you?

Yvette Nietzen presents Getting a Direct Power Charge posted at Fresh Wind Ministries, Int´l.Yvette challenges us to plug in directly to the power source rather than seeking a go between. Drawing from the story of the woman with the issue of blood.

For the Family

Crystal Gray [submitting article] / Andy Clark [wrote article] presents Father and Son Enlist and Mom Turns to Faith posted at Today’s Christian, Crystal shares a story she read while surfing the web which blessed her and thought well enough of our readers to pass the blessing along. Be sure to check out this new blog in the blogsosphere as we look forward to more blessings from Andy and Crystal.

Tiffany Partin presents Memory Lane – The Tropical Edition posted at Fathom Deep: Sounding the Depths of God.Tiffany found comfort in the midst of tropical storms through her faith in ‘Papa’. Listen as she recounts the numerous storms she and her family had endured through the years.

ChristianPF presents Getting out of Debt (Part 1): It’s not about you posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, Another fine post by ChristianPF. If you like many others are fighting the sinking black hole of debt perhaps this series of Getting out of Debt articles will benefit you. I have been living debt free for over 25 yrs thanks to the help of the Lord in convicting me of the sin of debt.

In Culture

ChristianPF presents “In God we trust” on our bills? posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Should “in God we trust” stay on our bills?” And the survey says? Find out at ChristianPF short post concerning our currency.

crebots presents Thoughts from Albuquerque on a beautiful day posted at Stop Believing Start Thinking.Although this article does not promote basic biblical christianity I found it interesting that even non-believers think about religion so I included it because obviously the gospel goes mainstream even when attempts are made to ignore it.

Crystal Nichols presents The Other Nine posted at Christian in the Corporate World.Do you take time to thank God for the small things?

In Education

Fred Lucas presents John Voight: Barack Obama sowing socialist seeds in young people posted at Barack Obama, Fred has been submitting many articles to this blog carnival and I thought I would use this one because it does show the need for keeping watch over what our children are learning. They learn whatever is put before them so parents it is important that you teach your children in the ways you would like them to be taught and not rely on culture to do so.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of pop goes the gospel using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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THE COAL BASKET

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Thursday’s Tail Feather

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible.

His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could.

One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?”

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house.

The grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was “impossible to carry water in a basket,” and he went to get a bucket instead.

The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water.

You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it’s useless!”

“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.”

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean.

“Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.”

That is the work of God in our lives.

To change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His son.

Take time to read a portion of God’s word each day, you will never regret you did.

by Olumide Bada
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Wreaking havoc on America

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

Matt Friedeman – Guest Columnist –
On occasion I find articles written that reinforce the philosophy of this blog and I like to share those articles with you. This is one such article. Be sure to check out his webpage at www.InTheFight.com.

Matt Friedeman

There are four “modern horsemen of the apocalypse,” according to Dr. Richard Land in remarks delivered to the annual Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis, and they are “riding forth to wreak havoc and destruction in our society.” Land listed the four as the denial of the sanctity of human life, the rise of hardcore Internet pornography, the radical homosexual agenda and the attempt to undermine marriage, and radical Islamic jihadism.

Scary enough list.  Here’s an even scarier one:

• The inactive, rudderless Church
• Fatherlessness
• Undisciplined prosperity
• The values of popular culture
Let’s take these in reverse order:

The values of popular culture

Popular culture comes to us in many ways, most of them with the unfettered approval of evangelical Christians.  We of the faith watch just as much television as the secular world.  We allow our kids to view MTV just as much, R-rated movies to the same extent, listen to hip-hop and secular rock music, and are just as open to the lowest common denominators in Internet and computer games.

Through these technological media our children, our teens, and none-too-few adults learn the majority of their life lessons about sex, drug use, violence, family, materialism, and peer relationships.  And the lessons are hardly reflective of Judeo-Christian tradition, which receives much less of our time and attention on a daily basis.  Small example — the average television viewing per home is seven hours a day … more American households have televisions than indoor plumbing … the average American preschooler watches an average of four hours of television daily.

Care to guess how much the average household spends in private or family devotions, or how much daily conversation actually passes between parent and teen?

Undisciplined prosperity

Undisciplined prosperity and the development of Mammonites is a curse to any generation.  It is an easy thing to get wrapped up in the pursuit of happiness and to forget that the pursuit of holiness ought to trump the former.  Money, possessions, and comforts tend to fuzz up the clear thinking of a culture until the stern virtues of hard work, frugality, integrity, sacrifice, self-denial, and biblical righteousness — the things that led to the foundation of our prosperity — are shoved to life’s periphery.  The prophets and teachers of Scripture knew this, which is why the Bible talks four to five times as much about money as it does about the vitally imperative topics of prayer or faith.  Undisciplined prosperity that makes “self” the focus instead of God and others becomes the millstone around the neck of a once moral people.

Undisciplined prosperity tends to make a people sloppy, selfish and arrogant.  And it is an age-old problem, as can be seen from this description of Sodom’s sin in Ezekiel 16:49:

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

Part of this sloppiness becomes the sense of entitlement — the attitude that even if I can’t afford it, I will get it.  Call it debt — whether through personal credit cards or government borrowing.  Debt is no friend to society and, left unchecked, an ultimately lethal enemy. Continue reading “Wreaking havoc on America” →

10 Signs you Need a Faith Lift

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

  1. When genuine joy is dependent on the state of your circumstances.
  2. When you begin to lose the distinct aroma of the fragrance of Christ in your life.
  3. When you begin to feel or act as if self-worth and acceptance is dependent on how well you perform.
  4. When victory or success depends on you and your ability rather than on the adequacy of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
  5. When you place undue emphasis on programming and planning to the exclusion of His direction, leading and guidance.
  6. When more time is spent in the “activities arena” than in the prayer closet.
  7. When the praises of men and women become more important than the approval of God.
  8. When relating to and caring for people is less important than programs, planning, meetings, and budgets.
  9. When you assume responsibility to worry and fret over things and people that God in His sovereignty and power would take charge of (if you would allow Him to do so).
  10. When your rights become more important than God’s will and way.
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