Christianity 101 | Ain't Complicated

The President and His God

Maybe he said this because this was an Interview of the President by Al Arabiya — but I doubt it:

Well, first of all, I believe in an almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That’s what I believe. I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace.

If that’s what he believes, that’s what he believes.

I don’t believe the Bible teaches that all religions pray to the same God.

I really should take the time to find the verses that establish that.

Can you help me?

A Year Ago Today at Nickel Mines

A year ago today. Wow!

Among the Amish, a grace that endures

This time last year, many of those children were learning their lessons in a different one-room schoolhouse. Across the road and not far away, four trees are clustered oddly in a verdant meadow. They seem to be standing sentinel for something that no longer exists. Last October, the schoolhouse they once sheltered was demolished, banished like a bad memory. No trace survives of the West Nickel Mines Amish School. Lush grass covers the scars.

Other scars have not been so easy to erase.

A year ago Tuesday, Charles Carl Roberts IV, a local milk-truck driver, calmly entered that schoolhouse and bound and shot 10 girls before killing himself. Five of the girls survived. In suicide notes and last calls to his wife, Roberts, 32, said he was tormented by memories of molesting two young relatives 20 years ago, and that he had never recovered from the death of his first-born child, Elise.

Within hours of this terrible moment, an event that could have fostered despair became marbled with hope as the Amish relied on their traditions and faith to teach lessons of forgiveness, gratitude, resilience and grace.

Four of the five injured girls have been able to resume normal life. The fifth, Rosanna King, who was 6 when she was shot, suffered a severe head injury and is unable to talk. She uses a wheelchair and is dependent on others for basic functions.

Be sure to read the whole article!

And here are a couple of books on the subject:

Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy

Forgiveness: A Legacy of the West Nickel Mines Amish School

Christianity 104

Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Christianity:

Following the discovery of an ad for a sadomasochistic street parade in San Francisco which mocked the Last Supper replacing Christ and His Apostles with leather-clad (and unclad) homosexuals, Concerned Women for America (CWA) and other groups called on California legislators to denounce the anti-Christianity. Rather than denounce the ad, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has derisively dismissed any concerns.

Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s press secretary, responded to media questions on the offensive ad saying, “As a Catholic, the speaker is confident that Christianity has not been harmed.”

If an ad damages Christianity, then maybe it’s time to ditch that belief system in favor of something else. Say, Islam. Or Mormonism. Or Buddhism.

I do not believe genuine Christianity can be damaged this way.

I do believe an individual Christian can be damaged.

Rush. My Brother?

Early in the second hour of today’s show, Rush Limbaugh self-identified (sorta in passing) himself as a Christian.

I found that interesting. Very interesting, in fact.

I don’t suppose that’s his first such proclamation.

I just don’t recall hearing him say it that plainly before.

Rush, I’m sure you don’t read this blog, but I’ve got a question anyway:

What makes you a Christian?

Oh, I discovered I have a second question:

Are you known as a Christian by your fruits?

For the record, the questions are just as applicable to me.

Cumming vs the Gospel?

Perhaps.

But I doubt it.

Here’s WorldNetDaily’s intro to the story:

Giving out Gospel tracts becomes a federal case

A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a 67-year-old Georgia man who was arrested, held in jail for two days and convicted without being given access to a lawyer for passing out Gospel tracts on a public street.

Jesus didn’t get access to a lawyer either. What would He do if He were in this man’s shoes? (Then again, it could easily be argued that He indeed is in this man’s shoes!)

Maybe this man could settle for an apology from the city fathers, the way the Apostle Paul did once upon a time.

Or maybe he could consider it suffering for righteousness’ sake and let it go at that.

But to make a federal case of it?

Frankly, though, I find it hard to let some things go in my own instances of I-Want-Justice-Done-For-Me. What I have written is a poke in my own heart.

Martial Law and Clergy

KSLA News 12 reports:

Could martial law ever become a reality in America? Some fear any nuclear, biological or chemical attack on U.S. soil might trigger just that. KSLA News 12 has discovered that the clergy would help the government with potentially their biggest problem: Us.

[…]

If martial law were enacted here at home, like depicted in the movie “The Siege”, easing public fears and quelling dissent would be critical. And that’s exactly what the ‘Clergy Response Team’ helped accomplish in the wake of Katrina.

[…]

For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13. Dr. Tuberville elaborated, “because the government’s established by the Lord, you know. And, that’s what we believe in the Christian faith. That’s what’s stated in the scripture.”

Romans 13:1,2 is definitely applicable to Christians:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

So unless the government requires you to do something contrary to God’s Word and ways, submit.

That said, I think Christian ministers working hand-in-glove with the State like that is contrary to the Scriptures.

They Call This Honor?

Woman raped before honor killing:

LONDON (Reuters) – A Kurdish woman was brutally raped, stamped on and strangled by members of her family and their friends in an “honor killing” carried out at her London home because she had fallen in love with the wrong man.

Banaz Mahmod, 20, was subjected to the 2-1/2 hour ordeal before she was garroted with a bootlace. Her body was stuffed into a suitcase and taken about 100 miles to Birmingham where it was buried in the back garden of a house.

They need redemption. As do all of us.

Indeed, they can be fully redeemed. As can all of us.

Interestingly, though I can’t categorize this under Middle East, it definitely fits in the category I chose.