Be careful with the words “All” and “Every”

Going to take a break from our Sunday Church series to write this post in light of everything going on in America with the issue of police, race and rioting.

Remember in the next few days you are going to see and hear a lot of things from others that can be better worded or nuanced.  We got to practice a lot of grace at this time.  You will very likely see wrongs and evil done from all sides of the political spectrum.  Yes you can call them out.

But be very careful of saying “All ___ are like that” or “Every ____ is _____.”

Please be very careful of this kind of thinking at this time.

Christians should be careful of such fallacious thinking in general.  Christians should especially be careful of this kind of fallacy at this time.

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Asians never face racism and Asian American Church want perpetuates white supremacy?

I don’t often bring up the issue of race on my blog as it seems people can misunderstand one’s intention and what one is saying in so many different ways, its tiring.  To begin with I think George Floyd’s death was murder. A well applied blood choke of a few pounds of pressure for a dozen of seconds is highly uncomfortable so it’s unnerving to see an officer that looks like he’s over 200 pounds putting a large part of his weight on his knee on George Floyd’s neck for minutes.  Also some of you know I’m an ethnic “mutt” and I never really fit in any of the two ethnic group of my parents’ background and I’ve always saw myself at the end of the day first as a Christian then secondly as an American.  I want to comment briefly of something I saw floating around social media by a woman pastor whose pro everything Leftist and spends a lot of time using critical race theory to bash the church.  I think the article has some serious issues that bring more heat than light hence I am writing about it.

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Bible Contradiction? How did Peter and Andrew become Jesus’s disciples?

 

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: How did Peter and Andrew become Jesus’s disciples?

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

Jesus called them directly as they were fishing on the Sea of Galilee.

“As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” (Mark 1:16-17)

“Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”” (Matthew 4:12-19)

They were with John the Baptist and approached Jesus on their own.

“Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” 39 He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).” (John 1:35-42)

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

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Two Christian Children’s Book Coming Soon: Summer 2020

These Christian children’s books are yet to be published and will be coming out this Summer.  Thanks to the publishers for advance review copy!

Tim Ladwig. Stories Jesus Told: Looking for the Lost Sheep. Grand Rapids, MI: Our Daily Bread Publishing, August 4th 2020. 32 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

Want a children’s picture story book that you can read concerning Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep?  Tim Ladwig has done another excellent children’s book on Jesus’ parables.  I was actually excited seeing he has another volume out.  Previously I have enjoyed his book on Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son and the Good Samaritan.  In this present volume he continues the trend of making good quality children’s book.

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Guest Post: The “Prosperity Gospel” Vs. God’s Gospel

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am busy today teaching class online for seminary students overseas.  This is by Robert Chamberlain.  His blog be found here, here and here!  Yes he blogs in three places!  Go check out his page and give his blogs a follow!

If I was to ask you what the gospel is, what would you say? It’s good news yes, but what is the good news of the gospel? If you say that to come to Jesus you will be healthy, wealthy and happy; that is not the Biblical gospel, it is a false teaching.

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Review: Faith Alone by RC Sproul

 

RC Sproul. Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, January 17th 2017. 262 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Evangelical Christians would say sinners can be saved by placing their faith in Christ apart from their own works yet is this doctrine biblical and also important?  The late Christian theologian and apologist RC Sproul answered these two questions and other related to it in his book Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification.  I received a copy of this book from Shepherd’s Conference for pastors, and then I saw a blogger friend shared a review of this book which prompted me to dig it up and read it.  I wasn’t disappointed; I was blessed to have read it!  What stood out to me is Sproul’s ability to handle with care what is Rome’s actual position and then accurately respond to its doctrines both biblically and theologically.  It is a good example of scholarship and also handling the opposition well.

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Memorial Day in my 30s

For Americans today is Memorial Day.  Its a national holiday where America have the day off to remember those who served in the military that have died in the line of duty.  Some of you guys know that I was at one time an American Marine.

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The Church during the days of Corona Virus: Pray for Government Leaders

Our “This Sunday” series will be another a Corona Virus edition.  For this Sunday here’s what you can do: Pray for Government Leaders.

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Objection to Prayer: If God is sovereign why pray?

Photo by nappy on Pexels.com

Selected Verse

Establish the need: If God is sovereign why pray?

Purpose: Today we shall consider six points in answering the question: If God is sovereign why pray?

1. Point 1: We need to affirm God is sovereign
2. Point 2: We pray simply because prayer is commanded by God
3. Point 3: Prayer requests presupposes God’s sovereignty
4. Point 4: The question wrongly assumes prayer is just asking for things
5. Point 5: Prayer doesn’t change God’s mind
6. Point 6: Prayer changes our situation

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Presuppositional Apologetic’s Links: Third Week of May 2020

These are links concerning Presuppositional apologetics gathered from May 15th-21st, 2020.

1.) Quick Thoughts on the self attesting nature of the Bible

2.) New book by Greg Bahnsen: AGAINST ALL OPPOSITION: DEFENDING THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW

3.) Angry Atheists Exterminate Reason

4.) Don’t play fetch the ball

5.) The Epistemological Spiral

6.) Bible Contradiction? Who was Salah’s father?

7.) Carnival mirror

8.) A Word on Gettier Cases

9.) Is There a God?

10.) CORNELIUS VAN TIL

 

Missed the last round up?  Check out the re-blogged post from a friend here, and a repost here

 

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Bible Contradiction? Who was Salah’s father?

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

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

Salah’s father was Arphaxad

“Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.” (Genesis 10:24)

“Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah” (Genesis 11:12)

Salah’s father was Cainan.

“the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,” (Luke 3:35-36)

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

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Purpose of Prayer

Note: Kind of late posting this, multiple things, last 24 hours has been crazy.

Selected Verse

Establish the need: Why do we pray?

 

Purpose: Today we shall see the purpose of prayer outlined as 3 “A”s so that we would pray purposefully today.

• To Ascribe Glory to God
• To Associate Relationally with God
• To Ask for God’s Benefits for us

 

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Free PDF and Review: Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper

John Piper. Coronavirus and Christ.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, April 28th 2020.  112 pp.

5 out of 5

Free: PDF and other format at Desiring God

Purchase: Amazon

According to the Bible what are the possible things God is doing with the Coronavirus?  In this book by pastor and theologian John Piper the author looks at the issue from a Gospel driven perspective.  Piper is nuanced in the beginning to say that no doubt readers will know more about what will happen with the virus situation than the book is able to capture at the moment he wrote this book; instead Piper is going to focus on God’s work in crisis and also look at the issue of death and suffering from an eternal perspective.  I am grateful that Piper wrote this book.

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An Application We Normally Don’t think about with Christ dying on the Cross

Christ dying on the Cross for our sins has many implications for the Christian life.  But there’s one that might not be emphasized enough and it’s important for the persecuted church to hear it.

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The Church during the days of Corona Virus: Patience with disagreements about the Virus

Our “This Sunday” series will be another a Corona Virus edition.  For this Sunday here’s what you can do: Patience with disagreements about the Virus.

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