Christian by Culture

I was thinking about the earliest followers of Christ this morning. What would it have been like to dismiss all that you knew to follow some new teaching about a man-God named Jesus? Basically, if someone approached me today with some untested belief system, would I follow it?

We were born in a world where Christianity has been around for 2000 years. Christianity isn't necessarily novel in our eyes because many people prior to us have shown Christianity to be sound and reasonable. Moreover, becoming a follower of Christ hasn't been a finger in the eye of our culture. Christianity is the most proclaimed religion in America! This being said, if we were 1st century slaves who only knew of Roman divinities, would we take the risk to follow a Jewish Messiah? Could we overcome our Roman/Greek backgrounds and paradigms?

But then I thought about 2 Timothy 2:10. Paul writes, "For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus..." It seems that Paul shared his faith with expectation. That is, he preached Christ expecting God to open the eyes of some of his hearers. This fascinates me because it seems that despite our backgrounds or beliefs God will open the eyes of some of those who hear the gospel.

In sum, Christ trumps culture.

Who is God?

Time Magazine released their newest data on how we as Americans see God. Perhaps we need to focus more of our evangelistic efforts on teaching who God is and who God isn't.

Facades

You'll rarely have a characteristic that's known to yourself and not known to others. Therefore, there's no such thing as a true facade. So why not be yourself? Consider the Johari Window for proof.

A Beautiful Woman

What makes a beautiful woman? Check out this blog with attached video.

Quote of the Day

"Prayer is a great purifier of motives." - Edmund Clowney

to boycott or not to boycott

Do you wonder whether or not you should buy Disney tickets if they support Planned Parenthood? Stand to Reason has a great article that differentiates between taking a stand against abortion and taking a stand against someone who supports abortion. They correctly argue that these are two separate issues.

The Bible as Non-Fiction

A great review of the the top 15 archeological finds that prove the reliability of our Bibles. (Pictures included!)

Guilty Pleasures?

Is it wrong for me to enjoy The Office?

OT v. NT

'Testament' is an ancient word for covenant. Thus, Old Testament literally means Old Covenant. Now that we're under the New Covenant, where does that leave the Old?