#thinkology
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What Did You Get Out of Church Today (and Other Entitlements)?
‘Your attitude should the same as that of Christ Jesus.’ Paul commanded the Philippian church. Jesus left HIs eternal might and glory behind and humbled Himself—became human, then a servant who died serving resolutely. Who would really do such a thing?
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Dealing with Unpleasant Christians
(Bits of wisdom about unpleasant church people. To be read before you go to church—especially on Communion Sunday) According to Jesus and His Communion, failure is not an option… —j
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Before You Blame Israel, I Have Some Questions…
I recently breakfasted with a Christian friend—an articulate, intelligent gentleman who, for reasons he withheld, informed me that Israel was genocidal in Gaza and the chief aggressor in latest Middle East conflict. He was a former longtime parishioner under my pastoral ministry, but his comments, which were not open to discussion, I found extremely troubling.…
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Why I Do Israel Tours
So many churches want to go to Israel but have never tried—maybe they’re a small congregation that never imagined they could go, or the pastor and his people lack the means and experience to organize a tour. That’s where I come in.
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Who We Are on July 4th
Stephen Spielberg is at it again. Frequently controversial, his latest film is no exception—a SciFi movie about things from another world. Reactions to it range from genius to heresy. But occasionally he drops a movie-moment that simply soars. Such was the climatic speech in his movie Amistad (1997), where the screenwriters inserted their two-bits into…
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How Do You Treat God?
Francis Schaeffer said: ‘The Bible teaches that man is made in the image of God and therefore is unique. Remove that teaching, as humanism has done, and there is no adequate basis for treating people well.’ A friend put it another way—and it got a bit more personal: “We’re all made in the image of…
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The Terrible Price of Being Afraid
(I don’t know who wrote this, but bless them…) The Wages of Fear: 2000 – Y2K is going to destroy everything 2001 – Anthrax is going to kill us all 2002 – West Nile Virus is going to kill us all 2003 – SARS is going to kill us all 2005 – Bird Flu is…
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EXTRA: That Really Stupid Iran Deal and what God Says About It
‘All right, Sparky, here’s the deal…’ Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations. Message received. ‘We won—we’re on a mission from God more than ever and NOTHING will prevent our ultimate victory! Allahu Akbar!’ And what’s their openly oft-stated goal? The downfall of western civilization, the annihilation of Israel, the extinction of the…
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When Someone Says, ‘Praise the Lord!’
(The following is Theologian and philosopher Francis Schaeffer comment on the crowning statement of the 1647 The Westminster Shorter Catechism…) “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. It would be Scripturally false to leave out the second phrase, and to enjoy Him forever. The men who formulated this…
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Drowning in a Sea of God
He made us the lamps for His light, not the salesmen or the customers of His fire. He fits no category, exceeds every attribution, defies all description except by His own words. He is infinitely more than the object of our study—He’s the subject of the universe itself. He is “the superlative of everything good…
Jay McCarl 