Pisteuo

Remembering Our Black Heroes This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:11:00 +0000

Of course, there are some other heroes we would like to highlight this month, but this find was too good to neglect!

FF: Cello Wars (Star Wars Parody)

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Trolling Saruman

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:21:00 +0000

HT: David Mora via Facebook. (If you haven’t seen the humorous video that inspired this, extend your Funny Friday with Edward Khil, a.k.a., The Trololo Guy.)

FF: Bengy and the Zipper

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:58:00 +0000

(HT: Kevin DeYoung)

10-Year-Old Blind, Autistic Boy Sings “Open the Eyes of my Heart”

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:22:00 +0000

What kind of life is worth living? This 10-year-old young man, born premature, blind, and autistic, shows his God-given beauty through his adversity:

HT: Justin Taylor

Film: "A Mormon President"

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:55:00 +0000

God-talk can irk people during political campaigns, and I don't mean secularists. Candidates often use religious talk to garner support from people of faith on the left and the right; an obligatory hat-tip to the base.

While I'm a "values" voter in some respects, I won't vote for a candidate simply because he (or she) claims Christian beliefs. Indeed, we have someone in the White House now who claims just that, while there is a Mormon who may be running against him who would make a better president. Given the choice between only those two, I would vote for Romney. (Yes, Romney would also claim to be a Christian. Even though he seems to be a nice guy and we share many principles in common, I don't find his beliefs much more consistent with Christian Scripture than Obama's. Quit interrupting.)

Many Evangelical Christians would not vote for Romney as a matter of conscience. I disagree with that position, primarily because theological discussion is not relevant to the electoral process in general, but I'm not going to ask anyone to violate their convictions on the matter. What I am going to do is plug a fair and even-handed documentary that answers why some Americans are concerned about having a Mormon President of the United States:

aMormonPresident.com

On your new year's resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

How are your new year's resolutions? Are you faltering? Do you read of Jonathan Edwards and his famous resolutions, and feel like a bit of a failure? Well, Cripplegate posts an encouraging post for you, and it comes right back to the truths of the gospel.

Memorizing Leviticus

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:57:00 +0000

From the TMS ordination prep notes:

THEME: Dedication/Holiness (God's Instruction on Holy Living - cf. 20:22-26)

OUTLINE:

I. The Way to God ‑ Sacrifice (1-17)

II. The Walk with God ‑ Sanctification (18 ‑ 27)

KEY CHAPTERS:

1‑7 Five offerings 23 Seven feasts

10 Nadab & Abihu 25 Sabbath (7) & Jubilee (50) years

16 Day of Atonement 26 Obedience = blessing

18 Regulations of sexual conduct Disobedience = judgment

KEY PASSAGES:

17:11 blood makes atonement for the soul

19:2 "you shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy"

20:6‑8 no mediums/spiritualists

KEY PEOPLE:

Nadab & Abihu ‑ two eldest sons of Aaron, consecrated as priests, slain by YHWH for offering "strange fire," ch. 10

Study these flash cards

FF: An 8-Bit Opera

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:14:00 +0000

If I were 8 again, I would commit this to memory:

I may do it anyway…

Screwtape Takes the Stage

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:15:00 +0000

HT: C.S. Lewis Blog:

Thanks to David Thereoux from the C.S. Lewis Society of California for this informational point: The sensational, stage production of The Screwtape Letters, starring Max McLean, will be touring the country on 2012.
This bestselling Christian masterpiece of religious satire by C.S. Lewis entertains and uplifts people with its hilarious, sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, the highly placed assistant to his demonic “father below.”

In addition, this fabulous stage production will be appearing across the U.S. in Los Angeles (Jan. 14-15), Salt Lake City (Jan. 28), Phoenix (Feb. 4), San Diego (Feb. 18), Sacramento (Mar. 3), Seattle (Mar. 10), Chicago (Mar. 16-18), Oklahoma City (Mar. 24), Indianapolis (Mar. 31), Buffalo (Apr. 14), Nashville (Apr. 27-28), Norfolk (May 1-6), Chicago (May 19), Atlanta (June 7-17), Grand Rapids (June 23), and Charlotte (June 29-30).

For more information go to www.screwtapeonstage.com.

Debate: Walter Martin vs Madalyn Murray O’Hair

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:09:00 +0000

HT: Apologetics315:

In this classic 1968 debate on the Long John Nebel Show, the late great Walter Martin debated the outspoken atheist activist Madalyn Murray O'Hair. This is not a moderated academic debate, as the listener will quickly find out. A fascinating and lively exchange. (Big hat tip to DefCon for finding this rare audio.)

Full Debate MP3 Audio here. (2hr 54min)

Enjoy.

'Knowing God' in 2012 with this free audio book

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:19:00 +0000

There are a lot of great Bible reading and prayer programs to get you started in the New Year, but there is one vital question everyone should answer to examine their underlying motivations for such resolutions: do I know God?

No, I don't just mean "know" in the salvific sense (though, if He has not saved your soul yet, remember that the Christmas season was the celebration of His offer of salvation). I mean that there are often barriers in relationships which we must identify.

J.I. Packer has done a wonderful job of helping us with just that, and this month the audio version of his book is free. Here is the description from the site:

A lifelong pursuit of knowing God should embody the Christian's existence. According to eminent theologian J.I. Packer, however, Christians have become enchanted by modern skepticism and have joined the "gigantic conspiracy of misdirection" by failing to put first things first. Knowing God aims to redirect our attention to the simple, deep truth that to know God is to love His Word.

What began as a number of consecutive articles angled for "honest, no-nonsense readers who were fed up with facile Christian verbiage" in 1973, Knowing God has become a contemporary classic by creating "small studies out of great subjects." Each chapter is so specific in focus (covering topics such as the trinity, election, God's wrath, and God's sovereignty), that each succeeding chapter's theology seems to rival the next, until one's mind is so expanded that one's entire view of God has changed.

Author Elizabeth Eliot wrote that amid the lofty content Packer "puts the hay where the sheep can reach it--plainly shows us ordinary folks what it means to know God." Having rescued us from the individual hunches of our ultra-tolerant theological age, Packer points the reader to the true character of God with his theological competence and compassionate heart. The lazy and faint-hearted should be warned about this timeless work--God is magnified, the sinner is humbled, and the saint encouraged.

Click here to download (9.5 hours, multiple formats). Thank you Ray Fowler for pointing this out as a great way to

Welcome to California public schools.. it's the new year

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:35:00 +0000

I've never been one who believes that there is a biblical requirement to home-school, though we have chosen that route and I teach classes for home-school students. However, there is certainly plenty of cause to consider alternatives to public education.

And if there weren't enough before, welcome to 2012.

To start, here is a news story on gender "diversity" education out of Oakland, CA. As part of its anit-bullying policy, the Redwood Heights Elementary School is teaching kids that like in the animal kingdom, "you can be a boy or a girl, or both," that gender is more of a "spectrum" than an either-or proposition.

Read the Chalcedon report for more info on this particular trend (HT: American Vision News). No word on how schools plan to keep teenage boys who lie about "feeling like a girl" out of the girls' locker room.

At least one might say that discussion in the video seemed relatively "clean," if not also inane. Relative to what? Perhaps you remember the passage of SB48 this summer, making California the first state to mandate homosexual history in the classroom (Fox News). Starting in kindergartner, students will begin learning not just the social studies facts, but also the gossip of history. (The news story states that this begins in the 2013 school year, though the law goes into affect in 2012.)

Good luck trying to opt your kids out. Thank you, California.

Are you concerned that exposing your children to issues regarding sexuality will open them up to sexual exploration at younger ages? Don't worry, California has you covered. Another law going into affect is AB 499, allowing kids as young as 12 to get treatment for STD's without parental consent. Couple that with the law allowing female minors to receive abortions without parental notification that is already in effect, and parents don't need to know anything about their children's lives.

Happy New Year.

Michael Pearl, Extreme Child Discipline - To Train Up Your Child

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:13:00 +0000

A child is beaten with a plumbing supply line for seven straight hours, with periodic breaks only for family prayer. In another family, a girl is unresponsive to the CPR efforts of the officer on the scene – she lied stripped naked, malnourished, and hypothermic. Perhaps you remember these stories, and their connection to one another.

Below I have all four parts of an Anderson Cooper interview with Michael Pearl, author of To Train Up Your Child and head of No Greater Joy Ministries – the teachings apparently upheld by this family and others whose actions have killed their children.

I first heard of this book a couple of years ago while in the student lounge at seminary – and no, while seminary students are typically spankers, it did not come up in a laudable conversation. These particular stories were not in the conversation, but I was told by one concerned student about this book and the odd (at times, extreme) advice given by Pearl and the poor theological convictions underpinning the text. He was perplexed because several families at the church were buying and rabidly promoting the book. I was told never to get the book for my own parenting library, which seemed like sound advice.

Well, I forgot about the conversation until I turned on the radio today. They were talking about this interview:

Sermon: How to Have a Worthy Walk

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:44:00 +0000

A message for your new year:
"How to Have a Worthy Walk," Ephesians 4:17-32The Master's Seminary - 8 December, 2011
Just as sin weighed down the Ephesian believers, sin will keep you from walking in the freedom you have in Christ. This is a message you will use every day of your lives from now until glory. We note two simple instructions Paul gives the Ephesian believers so that we may also have a mature walk in Christ.

I. You have a mature walk when you put off old thinking (v. 22)
II. You have a mature walk when you put on new thinking (vv. 23-24)

(As a side note, I am coming to the end of my seminary career and have my church resume and related information posted here, for anyone who is interested.)

Mary, Did You Know?

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 05:05:00 +0000

As a young believer, I sampled quite a bit of what Evangelicalism had to offer… good and bad. I don’t know which category you would place Mark Lowry in, but many agree that this song is a Christmas-time winner. The following video comes from his 1995 VHS, “Remotely Controlled,” and is the version by which I judge all other versions:

(Don’t worry, I’m not a Lowry-Onlyist).

Of course, my dad wondered what I was getting into with the oft-times seemingly-pedestrian humor. I loved it, perhaps because I found a kindred spirit. Here are a couple other delights.

First, how to properly cook:

Of course, on the theme of Lowry’s food habits and his singing, let’s not forget his parody of “I Surrender All” (a parody I have committed to memory):

(Yes, that was Clay Crosse at 3:39)

Have fun, and I hope y’all have had a wonderful Christmsa.

Addendum: On Atheists and Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:03:00 +0000

After Dan Barker's comment that the nativity was "an insult," a dozen or so people came out to show their support for the discussed display in Henderson, TX:

(Fox News, HT Ray Comfort)

(I hope no one had to avert their eyes.)

Does overwhelming support make something okay? Obviously not, though it is equally wrong for a vocal few to force the majority to change per its whims.

Right and wrong cannot be determined based on the popular vote or lack thereof - it has to be based on an external, objective and unchanging source. In other words, discussion of what is right and wrong in society is meaningless outside of a discussion of the Righteous Standard-Bearer, the Creator and Judge.

Otherwise, words like "right" and "wrong" get lost in the wash of social semantics.

Even so, the big story of the atheist world is not this but a sadder one: the passing of Christopher Hitchens, someone who lost his battle with cancer and presumably, his last chance to repent before death. Richard Dawkins sums up the sentiment in this tweet:

“Christopher Hitchens, finest orator of our time, fellow horseman,

valiant fighter against all tyrants including God.”

That says it all.

9 1/2 oz Preemie Defies Odds

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:05:00 +0000

For one family, it will be a merry Christmas and happy New Year. From American Vision News:

A baby born premature at 24 weeks weighing only 9 1/2 ounces has survived for weeks against the odds, and doctors are now optimistic enough to send her home by New Years.

Atlanta Journal Constitution reports, “At birth, Melinda Star Guido was so tiny she could fit into the palm of her doctor’s hand. Weighing just 9 1/2 ounces — less than a can of soda — she is among the smallest babies ever born in the world.”

While doctors warn that babies born this premature often experience developmental delays, many thrive and today are doing fine. USA Today reports of some previous cases: “One is a healthy first-grader, the other an honors college student majoring in psychology. Once the tiniest babies ever born, both girls are thriving, despite long odds when they entered the world weighing less than a pound.”

Pro-life advocates are pointing out the obvious: that even the tiniest of preemies should be considered persons, and these recent cases are proving the viability of that view. And if so out of the womb, why not in?

Fox Host Kicks Atheist off of Show for Calling Jesus and Nativity "An Insult"

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:51:00 +0000

(HT: Frank Pastore)
Do we need to discuss Dan Barker's self-delusion that there is no sin within the heart of every person on earth? I didn't think so.

I'm bewildered by this. I can't even begin to understand how a nativity scene makes people of other faiths feel unwelcome. I feel fine driving past a mosque, a Buddhist temple, and a Hebrew school/synagogue every week. Why do atheists walking by a nativity scene need to "keep their heads down?"
Indeed, I the only time I feel unwelcome when I am told that displays of my faith around Christmas are offensive and insensitive, even when augmented with but other religious displays.
I took my family to the lake this past week for a boat show, and nowhere in the (what used to be called) Christmas lights was anything Christian, though there was a menorah. Now, I don't mind anyone celebrating the Feast of Dedication (and neither did Jesus - John 10:22-23), so I don't understand why anyone would have a problem with Christians putting up displays celebrating the Christ on Christmas... even if it is on public property. If there is nothing wrong with a Hanukkah display, why should there be a problem with Christmas displays?
Take, for instance, the phrase "Merry Christmas:" nine times out of ten, the person to whom you say it celebrates it. Still, atheist groups like this one liken the phrase to a pogrom against Jews and other belief systems. Yet, listen to the political commentary of devoutly Jewish Dennis Prager and hear someone who has, for years, decried the silliness of thinking these words would offend anyone. Ben Stein has also been vocal about his support for the greeting. Though these guys wouldn’t mind a shout-out to Hanukkah, they understand that Christmas is a widely celebrated American holiday, and these colloquial greetings weave them in the fabric of society. Even though I don’t hang skeletons in October, I don’t assume someone wishing me a “Happy Halloween” is requiring me to do so. It’s a kind “Howdy Do!” to which the rational reply, “Back at you!”

Here's my conclusion: The reason Barker and other atheists feel so uncomfortable around these displays -- why they keep their heads low around them -- is because it is a reminder of how they are deceiving themselves and without excuse (Rom 1:20). That is what it all comes down to. The good news is that Christmas can provide them the same hope it provides the rest of us.

What is the significance of the word nouetheteo?

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:16:00 +0000

A concise answer from Jay Adams:

noutheteo or parakaleo? from Donn Arms on Vimeo.

Joel Osteen, Oprah, New Age, Word-Faith, Mormons and little gods, and the Trinity

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Nice title, huh? Well, stick with me.

Understand that I haven't been keeping up-to-date on all of my blog feeds, so imagine my surprise when I saw Joel Osteen welcoming "one of the great voices of our generation" and acknowledging how God is doing in her life... you know what I mean: Oprah was on.

Now, Oprah and her network demonstrably teach a false gospel:

This means Osteen's greeting is in stark contrast to Paul's sentiments in Galatians 1:6-8 or 2 Corinthians 10:5-6. I'm not saying he was required to be rude, but he seemed to be praising her for her good works, did he not? The Apostle John said, "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works" (2 Jn 1:10-11).

Of course, this is the same pastor who has twice said he can't tell (or doesn't care about) the difference between a Mormon and a Christian. See the two videos below:

He said he hadn't thought about it back in 2007:

In 2011, his conclusion is that a different God, a different Jesus,
and a different gospel are secondary issues:

(HT: DefCon)

I know that Joel Osteen is popular for his warm teaching style. Even so, these are not two reasons to embrace the man as a sound preacher of Scripture. To echo the sentiments of others, Joel Osteen cannot or will not discern between the biblical gospel and false ones because he himself does not teach the biblical gospel. Consider this video of MacArthur rebuking Osteen for just this.

Remember that Osteen "won" the 2009 worst Easter Sermon for teaching that Christ's resurrection means we all have "come back power."

As a sidenote, with all of the current Elephant Room controversy, which is not currently connected to Osteen, it is interesting to note that Osteen and the non-Trinitarian, fellow prosperity preacher Bishop T. D. Jakes have had a good, longstanding relationship.

And now the title of my post makes logical sense.

Overruled: How you will lose the right to raise your own kids

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:10:00 +0000

In the twilight of our representative, democratic republic, parental rights must bow to the opinions of an emotionally underdeveloped child. I kid not (pun intended): the wave of globalization washing away oaths to protecting the U.S. Constitution is leaving inane laws in its wake.

Today, parents are forbidden to homeschool their children, forbidden to remove their child from a class that counters the values and beliefs of the parent, and forbidden to take a child to church if that youngster would rather play Halo on Sunday mornings.

Do you think I am writing hyperbole, or perhaps of a scenario that would never darken an American household? Watch this 37min video, which contains 3 reenactments of real U.S. court stories, and decide for yourself:

HT: Thinking in Christ, which notes an interesting quote from the Washington Post re: Nancy Pelosi, who is seeking to regain the 25 lost seats in the House. "And if that happens — or when, according to her — at the top of her to-do list, she says, will be 'doing for child care what we did for health-care reform' — pushing comprehensive change."

If you want to do something about this insanity, you can head over ParentalRights.org for further questions. If you live in California, you could make it 27 seats lost by getting rid of the dynamic duo. That would be super. If you are also a Christian, you should also pray—not just for success, but for a gospel-driven reaction in the event that your kids are targeted next.

For the latter group, we may one day have to take cues from our brothers and sisters who have been forced to endure life under socialist regimes.

A Social Network Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:59:00 +0000

Remember this gem from last year?

Star Trek Crew watches Star Wars IV

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:10:00 +0000