Terrific, humorous story.

This is suppose to be a committee interviewing a person for ordination as a pastor. It's a humorous (and fictional) piece.

District Superintendent: "Well, Sam, would you tell me about the parable of the Good Samaritan?"

Sam: "Once there was this man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among thorns, and the thorns spring up and choked him. And as he went on, he didn’t have money, and he met the Queen of Sheba, and she gave him 1,000 talents of gold and 100 changes of raiment. And he got into a chariot and drove furiously, and when he was driving under a big juniper tree, his hair caught on a limb of that tree, and he hung there many days, and the ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink, and he ate 5,000 loaves of bread and two fishes. One night when he was hanging there asleep, his wife Delilah came along and cut off his hair, and he dropped, and fell on stony ground. But he got up and went on, and it began to rain, and it rained forty days and forty nights, and he hid himself in a cave, and he lived on locust and wild honey. Then he went on ‘til he met a servant who said, “Come, take supper at my house.” And he made an excuse and said, “No, I won’t. I have married a wife, and I can’t go.” And the servant went out in the highways and in the hedges and compelled him to come in. After supper, he went on and came on down to Jericho. And when he got there, he looked up and saw old Queen Jezebel sitting down way up high in a window. And she laughed at him. And he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down and he said, "Throw her down again." And they threw her down seventy times seven, and of the fragments that remained they picked up twelve baskets full, besides women and children. And they said, “Blessed are the piecemakers.” Now, whose wife do you think she will be in the Judgment Day?”"

Why Hell is Hell

I got this interesting description of Hell in the Christianity section of my World Religions class.

"God loves those in hell. It is His love that is perceived by the damned as a torment. The fire of His Presence- made known much more fully to those in heaven- is unpleasant to those in hell because they refuse to be cleansed, adapted, acclimated to God's love. The punishments of hell are, in other words, self-induced, and, as C. S. Lewis put it, the doors of heaven are bolted from the inside"

Whether one accepts this may depend on his interpretation of Hell in the Bible, but it makes sense in some ways. Humans have rejected God. Unless we are forgiven by Him, we don't want anything to do with Him. Living in eternity in His love would be a terrible torment to those who don't want it. Unbelievers may ask why God would send people to Hell for not believing in Him. But think about it: they don't want to worship God even on earth. Why would they want to do it for eternity in Heaven? God doesn't force people into Heaven if they don't want to go. The torment there, by some interpretations, is self-induced and not simply physical torture. C.S. Lewis once said that there are basically two people in this world: those who say to God, "thy will be done," and those that in the end God says, "alright, thy will be done." As Paul says in Romans 1:24, He "gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts..." However, I pray that God increases His Kingdom on this earth and saves as many people as He desires so they can live in eternal bliss with Him, our Father forever. Amen.

Mark Driscoll on Nightline

Nightline recently had a feature on Mark Driscoll, his church, and his family. It's some good stuff. Check it out.

http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2009/01/28/thank-you-nightline/

Mind the Gap

Part 1 of a speech by Ravi Zacharias called "Mind the Gap." I recommend a listen. Click on the archive tab to go to the archives and find the other 3 parts after that.

http://www.rzim.org/USA/Resources/Listen/JustThinking.aspx?archive=1&pid=1652

unChristian

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11

I saw a small group of people holding up "God hates fags" signs in Columbia yesterday at the Broadway and College intersection. I was thoroughly upset and incredibly exasperated by what I saw. How can people who claim to follow Jesus so blatantly disobey his commands to love others, including your enemies? Why is this sin set apart from the other sins as the one that God hates the most and does not forgive? Paul makes it clear that homosexuality is among the things that Jesus died to forgive. Are these people saying that Christ's death on the cross wasn't sufficient for everyone's forgiveness? This is an impoverished view of the Gospel. After seeing this I said to God as Jesus did on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34).

Recommended Reading (pt. 7)

John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace by Jonathan Aitken.

Strangely, there is no summary for this book, but it's not that hard to figure out. It is a biography about the well known 18th century Christian, John Newton. The only thing that most people know about this man is that he wrote the well-known song, Amazing Grace, but this book really opened my eyes to how amazing this man's life was. It is one of the best stories of a rebellious, blasphemous sinner turned Jesus-loving, God-fearing Christian I've ever read. The life of John Newton really shows how God can save even the lowest of sinners and use them for great purposes. John Newton was a very rebellious man in his youth and spent most of his young years out at sea. In his 20's he was extensively involved in the slave trade, even commanding a ship of his own for a few years. Eventually his true Christian conversion and spiritual growth led him to become a minister. After many years of highly successful ministry he counseled and even assisted William Wilberforce in the abolition of the slave trade. The book itself is very entertaining, which sounds surprising for a biography. Hardly any of it is dry. Newton's life is an emotional and spiritual roller coaster and Jonathan Aitken does a great job of showing it. While reading, I learned some spiritual truths following the life of Newton: 1) That a Christians spiritual growth and refinement can take many years. It's especially comforting for me to hear since sometimes I'm tempted to feel like I have to be a perfect saint right now. And 2) God's timing isn't always our timing. I'm sure Newton would have wanted to be a pastor the very year he decided to do it, but he had to wait 6 frustrating years of rejection to finally get a position. The perfect timing of this lead to many events in his life that changed not only his own life, but history. I seriously recommend this book for people interested in learning about Christians that God has used in history to build his kingdom.

Saint Augustine's Confessions

A great insight by Augustine that is very relevant today.

"I was captivated by theatrical shows. They were full of representations of my own miseries and fuelled my fire. Why is it that a person should wish to experience suffering by watching grievous and tragic events which he himself would not wish to endure? Nevertheless he wants to suffer the pain given by being a spectator of these sufferings, and the pain itself is his pleasure. What is this but amazing folly? For the more anyone is moved by these scenes, the less free he is from similar passions. Only, when he himself suffers, it is called misery; when he feels compassion for others, it is called mercy. But what quality of mercy is it in fictitious and theatrical inventions? A member of the audience is not excited to offer help, but invited only to grieve. The greater his pain, the greater his approval of the actor in these representations. If the human calamities, whether in ancient histories or fictitious myths, are so presented that the theatregoer is not caused pain, he walks out of the theatre disgusted and highly critical. But if he feels pain, he stays riveted in his seat enjoying himself."
Confessions, Saint Augustine (Oxford World's Classics, pg. 36)