Tag Jesus Christ

September Edition of “Pop Goes the Gospel” blog carnival

Allen Frederick 5 Comments

'Pop Goes the Gospel'

'Pop Goes the Gospel'

Welcome to the September 2009 edition of “Pop Goes the Gospel“. This back to school issue is chuck full of thought provoking material. There is lots here even for the casual student to digest. There are many posts to cause you to pause and consider, as well as some which might make you cry. We have all the emotions covered this month so enjoy.

Feature Post

Trent Cotton presents Hello-I Am a Slave posted at Christian Men-Christian Warriors. How’s that look on a resume you might ask. Well Trent Cotton hits a home run with this post on Romans 1:1. Well done Trent Cotton and you are this months feature author.

In Faith

Savannah Garcia presents savannah garcia: Looking back… posted at savannah garcia.Savannah writes a poignant post looking back on her husbands bout with cancer. This one is a must read and be sure the Kleenex box is not far from your computer as you read this moving post. Well done and welcome to Pop Goes the Gospel blog carnival

Bible SEO presents Christian Disciple – Seven Conditions | Bible Study Lessons | Bible Studies | Inductive Bible Study Guide posted at Bible Study Exposition Online. A check list for Christian Disciples. How do you measure up to this list of must haves to be considered a disciple of Christ?

Rodney Sutton presents Look Ma….No Land!!! posted at Happy Hog Speaks!. Rodney another new comer to Pop Goes the Gospel offers a short post full of wit and yes even some wisdom. Sometimes the best posts are the shortest, and I think Rodney gets the prize this month for the shortest post in this month’s issue. Can you walk on water? Find out by reading this post.

Allen Scott presents Left Behind posted at Journey Across the Sky. My own submission to this carnival warns us to take heed of the warning signals so that we are not left unprepared or worst yet left behind.

In Church Life

Big Larry presents Getting Creative With Tithing posted at Out of Debt Christian, saying, “Maintaining your commitment to tithe can be challenging during these tough times. But a little creativity will help remind you that abundance is always there for those who give of themselves first!” Well put Larry and well done. Larry is a first time contributor to this blog carnival and I hope that he will continue to bless us in the future with additional submissions.

andriel presents The Basis for Salvation: Man is Sinful posted at ReturningKing.com, Trends in neo-Christianity present salvation as something inherently man-inspired; frequently admonishing only that man properly involve himself in God’s work and lift himself up by his bootstraps to meet God’s expectations. But as andriel presents in “The Basis for Salvation” man is sinful and in need of a Savior. This is a great read but you better get your bible out before you start to digest this post.

Yvette Nietzen presents The Lord has Covered your Sin posted at Fresh Wind Ministries. Yvette follows andriel with a shower of blessings found in repentance and forgiveness from God. God wants to restore us into fellowship with Him but our sinful nature wants to alienate us from Him. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let the Lord shower you with His forgiveness and start each day refreshed and renewed.

Adam Faughn presents I Love Church Vans! posted at The Faughn Family of Four. Adam really loves church vans. Really he does, and so will you once you understand what they stand for. Perhaps you would like to add your church van to Adam’s collection?

Jeremy Hobbs presents Matthew 18:7-9 posted at ChristsDomain, Jeremy Hobbs dissects Matthew 18:7-9 and poses to us all a challenge to examine what causes us to stumble in the faith and ANNIHILATE it!

Shannon Christman presents The Minority Thinker: Is Jesus Really the Answer? posted at The Minority Thinker, Shannon Christman a first time contributor to this blog carnival asks us to think before we answer. Jesus is definitely the answer for the world today but is Jesus the right answer to every question?

In Culture

NCSue presents “I was in prison, and you came to visit me.” – Mt. 25:36 – * posted at IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING. A thought provoking post admonishing the church to do a better job of visiting those who are in prison.

Randy Powell presents Can God Hear Me? posted at Communicating with God Effectively. I guess the answer to that question would depend on how you actually viewed God. This is what Randy wants us to look at with his post. I say talk to God as if you were talking to your best friend, after all HE is closer than a brother, and loves to be called Abba Father or daddy.

Angelawd presents “What if you’re wrong about atheism?” posted at angelawd, Or what if God actually exists? Does belief in an unseen God prove worthwhile in the life of those who believe? What if that belief turns out to be false, would the life that you led be a waste? Read the article but then take the time to read ALL the comments. This is a thought provoking piece, but for me, like doubting Thomas I wanted proof that Jesus was alive and loved me, and for me I received all the proof I need. I am convinced that God is real and my faith in Him is not wasted. What say you? Leave your comment along with the others. This is a must read.

In Politics

Dan Smith presents The Abortion Debate posted at Different Frequencies…Same Radio, Dan rages a debate with himself that he shares with the world over the abortion debate. How should a Christian respond to this issue? See what Dan decided in “The Abortion Debate” blog post.

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.

Technorati tags: , .

Information Overload!

Allen Frederick 2 Comments

Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org
Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor

These people have become close-minded and hard of hearing. They have shut their eyes so that their eyes never see. Their ears never hear. Their minds never understand. And they never turn to me for healing.”’Acts 28:27 (GW)
We have a lot to explain about this. But since you have become too lazy to pay attention, explaining it to you is hard. Heb 5:11 (GW)

I never realized how many emails I averaged on any given day until I got home after being away for only one night and found over 300 emails in my inbox. Checking my email periodically throughout the day gave me a false measure of the huge volume of time-wasting info sound bytes I was receiving on a daily basis. Granted many of those emails held inspirational value but when I sat there and compared the time it took to actually go through each one, or to put it better, delete the ones I was not going to read, my eyes were opened to the sheer volume of worthless data bytes that were sent to my inbox.

Not everything we hear or see or read is worthy of our time and attention and yet, if you are anything like me, you too will find yourself bombarded with tons of information on a daily basis. Over a lifetime these sound-bytes will add up to be a very huge number. Now I would not mind if each day I would find an additional 300 dollars placed in my bank account, at least at the end of the year there would be something of value accumulated.

Information too can be valuable if we are discerning. Knowing what to heed and what to discard can have a positive or a negative effect on our life. If we heed valuable information and fashion our life accordingly then we can live a successful life, if on the other hand we spend far too much time digesting worthless and foolish advice and information our lives could end in tragedy.

There is a far more sinister effect information overload can have upon a person, and that is to desensitize that individual so that they are no longer able to discern valuable information from worthless drivel. Loosing one’s ability to differentiate valuable content from mindless rubble is a dangerous position to be found in. If we treat all information as equal we place ourselves in a position to become dull of hearing and blinded to truth. Even when presented with SOLID evidence, because we have lost focus on what is valuable, we are unable to receive the truth as anything more than just another sound-byte. We end up approaching all information peddlers with cynicism and skepticism. Discarding whatever does not suit our particular situation or attitude, we toss aside anything that requires more than a second or two to process. We do not wish to be bothered with weighty issues that might require more thought and research. We want our information in easy to swallow sound-bytes and do not wish to be bothered with a lengthy discourse.

This was the state of the religious people of Christ’s day. Although they prided themselves on being a learned people they were unable to ascertain the clear truth of God manifested in the life of Jesus Christ. Their eyes were blinded to the truth of God’s love and God’s ways and their ears  stopped to the knowledge of God’s word. Although surrounded by overwhelming evidence they were unable to process the information. They had grown comfortable in their own thought processes and did not wish to have their ideas challenged. They had become lazy when it came to information gathering. They did not desire to find out what was true or what was not true, they just picked what sounded good to them at the time and disregarded anything that did not.

Should we be on guard against information overload as well? To answer that question all we really need do is turn on the radio or television and listen for about an hour and see what type of information is being broadcast. Is it uplifting, soul stirring, energizing or simply a waste of time and mindless blather?

As I sorted through my inbox with the intention of separating the worthless from the valuable, I too became aware of the millions of mind numbing bytes wasted on most of the emails sent to my inbox. I am now on a journey to eliminate waste from the bird cage. I am on a journey to block all correspondence from sources that do not provide valuable content. I do not wish to spend my day reading and responding to matters of insignificance. I do not wish to be found wasting my time having to delete these unimportant emails. So from this day forward I am instituting a new email policy. If the information contained in the email is not of eternal value then the sender will be added to my spam filter and their emails will be dead on arrival.

So like Jesus says, there are many things He would like to tell me, and in order to have the desire to hear those things I will have to de-clutter my inbox. Caution, the eagle is cleaning out the birdcage. Beware of flying debris.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey
Related articles by Zemanta

April Edition of “Pop Goes the Gospel”

Allen Frederick 3 Comments

'Pop Goes the Gospel'

'Pop Goes the Gospel'

Welcome to the April edition of “Pop Goes the Gospel“. 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.

This month is our best ever “Pop Goes the Gospel”. I am so blessed to be able to offer 14 excellent articles for your enrichment. There did seem to be a common theme this month as many of the articles focused on an aspect of our relationship with God and each other. Each article will be worth your while to read and ponder. Take the time to read through each one perhaps more than once on some of the more indepth articles. You can always link directly to “Pop Goes the Gospel” so you can come back often. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to submit an article to this month’s blog carnival and an even bigger thank you to all of you who stopped by to read it. Now then onto the journey.


This Month’s feature article

Paul Gable presents Confront This Evil posted at Paul Gable, Although Paul offers no scriptural support for his positions I felt that because of the political and economic upheavals our country is facing, Paul offers a thought provoking post and it was worth featuring in “Pop Goes the Gospel”. I will leave you with this thought as you head on over to read Paul’s offering, the words of Edmund Burke– ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.’

In Media

Anthony Delgado presents The Jesus Film Project posted at eInquisitive | Giving you something productive to think about!.Why not take time during passion week to watch the Jesus Film and perhaps you will take away a deeper devotion to Christ.

In Church Life

Jim DeSantis presents How I Go Boldly to the Throne Every Day posted at On Line Tribune | Spiritual Matters Blog, saying, “Thirteen times, in the book of Hebrews, the author uses an edifying, faith building Greek device. This device usually begins with the expression “let us.” I call it simply a “let us exhortation.””

Thank you for the invitation Jim. The way has been opened into the very presence of God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We can boldly go where no man has gone before because of what Christ has done. Just remember you are standing in the presence of God, and just like you would not stand before a King irreverently neither should you be irreverent before God. GO, ENTER!

Travis Morgan presents Where do you live? posted at My Glory to Glory, saying, “So I was driving to the bank, and on the way, I just had it. I said, “God, it’s so hard to live here.” You know what He said back to me?

“Then don’t live there.”

Wow, four words and God shut me up. Here I was, trying to complain to God, and He just made it so simple that I couldn’t complain anymore.”

Travis along with Kiesha’a article Trade Your Mope for Hope reminds us to look up when things are looking down. Although you may be walking through a valley the God of the mountaintop is the same God in the valley. The Psalmist says that although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil for thou art with me… So stop living as if you are in a valley, start living as if you are on top of the mountain.

andriel presents The Emerging Ecumenicism: “We’re Ready to Believe You!” posted at ReturningKing.com.

As usual andriel presents a thought provoking article. This one deals with familiar spirits and meditation. This one will require a cup of coffee and some time to digest. Not for the timid.

Nathan Creitz presents One God, Two Gods, Three Gods, No God posted at ChurchETHOS.

Nathan tackles the idea of religious tolerance. Can’t we all just get along? Doesn’t all roads lead to the same place? Some worship god one way and some others but as long as you are sincere then what is the problem? Okay I took license in my description but I think you will see Nathan’s points quite clearly. ALL can not be true, or there would be no truth, and if there is no truth, then really what does it matter? Thus we have the circular logic of those who espouse all roads lead to the same place, that place according to Nathan is ignorance. A MUST READ! Thank you Nathan!

Yolanda Lehman presents BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED ME… posted at Ain’ta That Good News?!,

“A devotion on God’s love for the World, or cosmos, and God’s great love for humanity as well!”

Yolanda offers a devotion taken from the simple song ‘Oh How I love Jesus’. And it shows in her post. If you are in need of a whole lot of lovin’ race over to Yolanda’s post and get your love tank full. Thank you Yolanda!

In Family

Kiesha presents Trade Your Mope for Hope posted at Highly Favored.

Kiesha, a first time poster to “Pop Goes the Gospel”, submitted a great article. She was reminded that hope was simply one call away. Jesus is only a whisper away or like the song writer put it, ‘He’s as Close as the Mention of His Name‘. Thank Gordon Jensen and thank you Kiesha for the comforting words.

Tiffany Partin presents Fathom Deep: Sounding the Depths of God: Hide & Seek posted at Fathom Deep: Sounding the Depths of God.

Tiffany never disappoints, her writings are filled with the love of a mother and over flows with the love of the Father. This month she shares the joy of knowing her children are walking in truth as she relates the joy of hearing her 3 year old quoting scripture. You are never too young to learn the word of God and you are never too old to stop learning the word of God. Well done Tiffany, and thanks for sharing the joys of motherhood.

Cale presents Maybe you should just stay home: Autism in Church posted at Spectrum Siblings, saying, “Some thoughts on how the church should approach Special Needs families.”

Cale, another first timer here at “Pop Goes the Gospel’, hits a nerve when he points out the obvious. Church is not a place for perfect people, but a place where imperfect people can commune with a perfect God and by so doing learn how to love perfectly all the imperfect people in the world. For God so loved all of us imperfect ones that he died for us all. And if CHRIST died for us then who among us can condemn us? We are His and therefore our imperfections are also His. So whatever we do to the LEAST of these we do unto Christ. Let us remember that the next time we think about pointing out someone’s imperfections. Well done Cale!

In Culture

Ann Shorb presents The New Cookbook posted at Christian Counseling & Educational Services.

Ann says that although the covers were the same what was inside was not. Ann soon discovered that her new cookbook did not contain the same old tried and true recipes she grew up on. So just because they looked alike, they were completely different. It is not what is on the outside that matters but what is on the inside. SO it is with our walk with the Lord, we maybe trying to look good or hip or culturally relevant but what is on the inside? Maybe we really do not need a new cook book after all?

christiantwopointoh presents Sex and Drugs posted at Christian2.0, saying, “Everyone is dong it? Literally, they are doing it. What are the lasting effects of sexual liberation? Could there be hidden consequences to our indulgence?”

Sex and drugs what more does a blog post need? Temperance. This article does a good job of highlighting the issue but requires further study to fully grasp the complete picture. His main point however was the Lord’s ways are liberating while our ways are enslaving. Freedom or slavery which do you prefer?

Victor Schultz presents St. Peters Square and Plaza | St. Peters Square, Vatican City posted at St. Peters Square, Vatican City, saying, “I had the great pleasure on touring the Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. I wanted to give you just a glimpse of what you might see, if you were to visit the Holy See in Vatican City, Rome, Italy. Obviously, any tour of the Vatican is best in person. If you cannot go there, then a tour with pictures is perhaps the second best approach to seeing the Vatican and all the beauty and splendor that it has to offer.”

For all our Catholic readers here is a virtual pictorial tour of Vatican city. Enjoy!

Hopeful Spirit presents Affirmation of Faith posted at On the Horizon, saying, “A true story about a signed received . . . of faith, belief, and hope.”

It took the cross the break through the blackness of sin, and it still takes the cross to break through the blackness of night and the fog of unbelief. It is the cross the speaks to the world about the love of God. It is the cross that stands as a beacon to light the darkness and point us toward heaven. Thank God for the cross! And thank you hopeful spirit for the inspiring true story. Just in time for Passion week.

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.

Technorati tags: , .

Related articles by Zemanta

Behind the Scenes: All Access Pass

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

 

Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org

“…[W]e have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.” (Hebrews 10:19-20, NIV)

 

I used to be on the stage crew of my local high school. The stage crew was responsible for all the behind the scenes events that took place. The actors and performers on stage where dependent upon what went on behind the scenes. Movies, plays, music events, television shows, news broadcasts, TV preachers. All these people are dependent on what goes on behind the scenes. The things you can not see makes what you can see look better if done right.

The important things about those who work behind the scenes is to do the job in such a way as to not be noticed. In fact many times we were required to wear dark clothing so that we could move about the stage unseen when the lights were dimmed. Sneaking around behind the curtain was a talent we all learned early in our training. Using the catwalks and sky walks above and behind the stage were our way of getting around from place to place without anyone noticing. We were like mice in the rafters moving about sight unseen.

To this day I enjoy knowing how things are done. I want to know how they do that? I like those television shows that show you how it is done. In fact I really like those ‘making of’ features on DVD’s that show how the different stunts and effects in the movie were done.

On certain days the ‘Millennium Theater’ in Lancaster, PA has a behind the scenes tour of the current play they are presenting. During these behind the scenes tours you are taken behind the curtain to see the drama backstage. All the props and make-up and special effects are shown from an entirely new perspective, that of the insider, the crew who put it all together.

Jesus gave us a way to go behind the scenes when he died on the cross. Now we have an ‘all access pass to heaven’ through the blood of Jesus Christ and we can “see behind the curtain”. We can watch the drama unfold from an insiders’ view. We are now permitted to venture behind the scenes as God works out his program on earth’s stage. We are part of the stage crew working together with Jesus and the Holy Spirit to bring to life the kingdom of heaven.


One of the things Jesus did for us on the cross, was to open our access to God’s presence. Have you considered the significance of the tearing of the veil in the temple when Jesus was on the cross (Matt. 27:51)? What once was forbidden has now been made available!


Now we can look behind the scenes into the very throne room of God himself and fellowship directly with the Father because of Jesus’ death on the cross. The curtain has now been lifted.

We now have an all access pass into the holy of holies seven days a week 365 days a year.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)


Zemanta Pixie

The Dumbing Down of Christianity

Allen Frederick 2 Comments

By Dominique Oberling

On March 17, 2008, Oprah hosted her third webnar class with author Eckhart Tolle. Since her endorsement of Tolle’s book, A New Earth, about 3.5 million copies of his spiritual self-help guide have been sent out and more than 2 million people in 139 countries have now signed up for the World Wide Web seminar using a new technology called Skype. (Skype is a free software that allows you to make Internet and videophone calls from all over the world.)

After reading the first two (2) chapters of A New Earth, it is apparent that Tolle does not embrace any one religion over another but instead creates his own, new religion by blending many tenants of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sufism, Christianity, and other faiths into one. According to a review in the Vancouver Sun by Douglas Todd, Tolle’s “spiritual outlook has become more complex since (his earlier book), The Power of Now, when he dismissed external reality as an illusion and made it sound as if “living in the now” was a panacea for all the world’s problems. In addition, Tolle believes outer realities – including politics, war, poverty, and even the climate – will magically be transformed when individuals change their inner consciousness. This may be true, but only to an extent.”

In essence, Tolle’s approach to his spiritual quest is basically to dumb down all faiths including, and in particular, Christianity. By reducing Christianity to a watered down version, Tolle supplies a Christianity that is more appealing to the masses. According to Chuck Norris in his article, Oprah’s New Easter, “Tolle only quotes relatively benign sayings of Jesus, avoiding the more difficult ones. For example, Tolle notes that Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is already present on earth and can be experienced right now, but Tolle overlooks Jesus’ teaching that one must be born again (by believing in Him as the Son of God and Savior) to see that kingdom in the future” (Norris 1). Additionally, Tolle makes no mention that Jesus was making reference to the kingdom of heaven that will take place on earth after Jesus’ pending return in which He will set up his new kingdom here on earth.

Needless to say, Tolle incorrectly interprets this passage on page 43 of his book when he writes, “‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,’ Jesus said, ‘for theirs will be the kingdom of heaven’. What does ‘poor in spirit’ mean? No inner baggage, no identifications. Not with things, not with any mental concepts that have a sense of self in them. And what is the ‘kingdom of heaven’? The simple profound joy of Being that is there when you let go of identifications and so become ‘poor in spirit'” (New).

As Norris noted, Tolle does indeed dumb down Matthew 5:3 by declaring the poor in spirit is here and now and all one needs to do is live in the present as well as do away with all your earthly possessions. While controlling our insatiable need for material possessions – as Americans – would most definitely be a worthy goal for each and every one of us, Tolle misinterpreted this scripture by taking it out of context. Whether intentional or not, he misconstrued what this passage is really about.

What Tolle leaves out of his dumbed-down version of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is that in this particular passage, the word poor is linked to in spirit. If Jesus had used the word poor by itself, than Eckhart’s interpretation would be valid. However, Jesus links poor to spirit to clarify His intention. “To be poor in spirit is to acknowledge honestly and with understanding our spiritual poverty – indeed our spiritual bankruptcy – before God” (bible 3).

Norris also states that we “need to rebel against low expectations of culture and choose to do hard things” (Norris, 1). In other words, instead of falling at the feet of the current guru and hearkening his dumbed-down version of ‘Christianity,” we need to take a stand and follow the road that is less traveled. Although a much harder road to travel, it is one that will ultimately lead us to the eternal One who has all the answers, not just for our own personal lives, but for the society we live in.

Ultimately it is our own personal decision to make. We can choose to accept the dumbed-down version of Christianity that is being espoused by the Tolle-Oprah church, or we can take the harder route and the less traveled road and follow Jesus Christ. In order to do so, however, we must accept all of Him, not the dumb-down version offered up in A New Earth.

Dominique Oberling

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=57827

http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/webcast/ane_marketing.html

http://anunlikelyperspective2.squarespace.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dominique_Oberling
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Dumbing-Down-of-Christianity&id=1091070

Related articles