Review: Special God by Julie Melilli

Julie Melilli. Special God.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, September 5th 2018.  64 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

There’s many Christian children’s books out there so what makes this one unique?  In the introduction the author Julie Melilli gave some background to why she wrote the book.  She mentioned about looking for a book for her adopted daughter that had developmental disabilities and physical differences.  In addition she was looking for something that is biblical to read to her daughter while also looking for something with simple vocabulary that for non-native English speaker.  Seeing the need for such a resource Julie Melilli decided to write this book.

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Ethnic Churches: A More Better Way than Bashing Them

I imagine many readers have heard Martin Luther King’s quote “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning.”  People who often quote King go on to lament about how many churches look monolithic.  Still some would also bash ethnic churches.  I’ve been guilty of this myself.  But in this post I want to look at “a still more excellent way.”  And like 1 Corinthians 12:31 that I quoted, this better way is nuanced, Gospel centered and loving.  Loving of God and all people group.

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Blog Milestone: 1.4 Million Views

At 9 PM Pacific Standard Time we hit a new milestone for our blog: 1.4 million views.

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Solar System First Grade Homeschool Lesson 10: Pluto

This is a Christian Home School Lesson Series for first graders on the Solar System that aims to fulfill the Science Content Standards from the California Department of Education.

Lesson 10: Pluto

Purpose: To explore and know more about God’s creation of Pluto.

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Bible Contradiction? Who Was Achan’s father?

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Who Was Achan’s father?

Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:

Achan’s father was Carmi.

“But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel.” (Joshua 7:1)

Achan’s father is Zerah.

“Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.” (Joshua 7:24)

“Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things under the ban, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’” (Joshua 22:20)

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:

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What Has God Been Teaching You?

Long weekend, still long Monday with ministry.

Short post with the question: What has God been teaching you?

It’s a good question to ask oneself from time to time.

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Quick Devotional from Philippians 3:7 (Observation from the Greek)

This is from my daily Greek exercise of sight reading a few months ago, courtesy of Vincent S Artale Jr.

Our text is from the Greek translation of Philippians 3:7.  Here is my translation:

“SENTENCE 7 ἀλλὰ ‹✓ [LD ἅτινα ἦν μοι κέρδη LD] [TP ταῦτα TP] ἥγημαι διὰ τὸν
But whatever things were to me gain this I think because of

Χριστὸν ζημίαν ✓›”
Christ a loss

Here are some observations:

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Christian Web-Comics by RG_2_Cents

For this weekend reading recommendations (because sometimes Pastors need a break from heavy theological reading) I’m sharing something different: Web comics by blogger RG’S 2 CENTS.

Unlike other comics I review our Christian brother has the Christian worldview shape his comics of an alternative world.

Here’s the web comics you can read online:

This was the first one I read by RG: When Foxes Fly.  Flying Fox?  Yep, a character goes to a new city and meet others and uses his power for good.  There’s a spoof on the Batman movie and King Kong.  In the midst of all the character is a kid whose faith in God is important and an example for the adults.  Check it out here.

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Tolerance? Church Vandalized

I’ve been slow about saying this online.  An atheist last month came to our church; and vandalized our church front door.

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Presuppositional Apologetics Round Up: Third week of August 2018

Here are Presuppositional apologetics’ links gathered between August 15-21st, 2018.

1.)  The Problems of Evil Conference MP3s

2.) HONORING GOD IN YOUR APOLOGETICS

3.) Pastor Mike Winger on Presuppositionalism

4.) Cosmic simulation

5.) Would Paul the Apostle Debate Modern Evolutionists?

6.) The Folly of Atheism & Deism

7.) God Doesn’t Believe in Atheists

8.) How to be a Biblical scholar

 

Missed the last round up?  Check out the re-blogged post from a friend or here or here.

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Solar System First Grade Homeschool Lesson 9: Neptune

This is a Christian Home School Lesson Series for first graders on the Solar System that aims to fulfill the Science Content Standards from the California Department of Education.

Lesson 9: Neptune

 

Purpose: To explore and know more about God’s creation of Neptune.

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Review: Suicide: Understanding and Intervening

Jeffrey S. Black. Suicide: Understanding and Intervening.  Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, February 1st 2003. 34 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

This is a biblical counseling booklet on suicide that is a part of a series called “Resources for Changing Lives” printed by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing.  I highly recommend this series of booklets and I have found them very beneficial for my own personal spiritual growth and also as a resource in pastoral ministry.  The specific topic for this booklet is on suicide.  The booklet addresses those intervening and counseling someone who is struggling with wanting to commit suicide rather than addressing directly the person who desire to end his or her own life.  I made the mistake of not reading the subtitle of this work carefully and gave this to someone I was counseling that was feeling suicidal.  Nevertheless when I read this booklet I felt it was a treasure trove of help for the counselor and is jam packed with many insights despite its tiny size.

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The Problems of Evil Conference MP3s

Confidence to Answer: A South Bay Apologetics Project just sponsored a one day conference a few days ago on August 18th, 2018 on the issue of “The Problems of Evil.”  It took place at Branch of Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Torrance, California.

The audio MP3s of the conference is now available online!

It seems that although California as a state is very liberal there are Christians who are active in preaching and defending the truth from the last few days of conferences audios we have shared on our blog.

Check out the messages below:

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Pastoral Burnout: Its Causes & Cures (9 Marks Journal Articles)

Pastoral burnout is a real problem.  9 Marks Ministry for their latest journal focuses on this problem.  I think Pastors and church leaders will benefit from it.  Also regular Church members would benefit from it in terms of their own prayers for the church, pastors and ministering to their own pastor.  Church life is a two way street.  You can find it here.

I’m glad they make this journal available for free.

Here’s the breakdown of individual articles.

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Dealing with Disappointment Part 2: Looking at Problems God’s Way

I’ve been thinking a bit on the topic of dealing with disappointments mainly for the guys that I love in my church who are going through things.  Lord willing there might be future posts.  This is my second post on this topic.  You might want to read part 1 first.

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