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In an Internet era, you should never-never-never have nude photos taken. A lot of things can happen and nearly all are very bad. Even if you think pictures are deleted from hard drives and memory cards they might still be accessible.
Many people will regret their MySpace pages and such when they apply for their first jobs. I’m anticipating a flood of legal name changes.
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Jesus outside the Bible – There are many references to Jesus outside of Scripture.
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Very cool video on GodTube.
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A gripping testimony by Carol Everett, a former abortion provider.
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Stacking the deck on the “same-sex marriage” debate in Vermont – Let’s see . . . if we only choose people for the committee who agree with us, we’re sure to end up with a diversity of viewpoints.
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The letter to daughters is excellent. A must-read for all!!
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Awesome video. It will speak to anyone ever enticed, anyone who struggles. Thanks for sharing it.
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Great video. It brought a tear to this atheists’ eye! The temptations young kids/adults face today are stronger than ever. They need all the help they can get.
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“In an Internet era, you should never-never-never have nude photos taken. ”
Uh oh, it’s too late for my 4 month old son.
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Excellent, excellent post, Neil. I was going to briefly comment on the amazing testimony against abortion, but became overwhelmed after watching the video. Thanks for posting that…probably the most uplifting thing I’ve view in quite a bit.
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Though I enjoyed the video, I didn’t like how it portrayed “god” as powerless as he’s trying to reach out to her…and the other vices/people seem to stop him. His is the power and glory. There’s nothing that could stop him.
Nonetheless, a terrific commentary on our lives. Great find. Thanks for posting it.
Edgar.
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The only thing that Jesus is powerless over is our self will. Jesus came to her, and she went with him, and it was easy. She was enticed away, and she flirted with the enticements, then at the point of utter desperation (the gun), she turns back, and then she has to fight — her self, and the entangling enticements she’d gotten close to — to GET back. The instant she gets close enough to grasp his hand, THEN, he RUSHES to her, shelters her and, if you’ll pardon the expression, he kicks ass. He wasn’t powerless. That interpretive dance depicts one’s will versus Jesus’s willingness to dance with us, and the way the relationship can change for ill if careless, for good when repentant. Note, I do not say the state of the relationship changes, only the quality of it — but I concede that that is debatable. But not very, I don’t think.
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That seems like a pretty good interpretation to me, ER. Jesus is ready and willing to help us, but He will not override our wills.
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All I know is that video has haunted me all day. All. Day. It’s an example of what I mean when I say something is True, whether or not it is factual.
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I see Edgar’s point in that it is impossible to fully and accurately portray Jesus in that sense. But I thought the fact that He wins in the end and that we face those demons along the way was powerful (or haunting, as ER noted).
I think the money part was especially powerful – how the bad guy held it out and then dropped some on the floor and she just dove after it.
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Hi Neil,
I couldn’t watch it. Sorry. I just believe that God gave us the preaching of His word as the means of grace, not the drama team. I know that many here were moved by that video. Such things are always enticing, but the means that God has given us for conversion is His preached word. (Romans 10:14ff). I know I’m in the minority on this view because so many say: “do whatever it takes.”
But let me remind you, that supposedly millions were converted by the Passion of Christ. Where are they today?
I don’t believe in using drama in worship. God did not ordain that as a means from His word, even though it is tempting to do so because it brings about so many levels of emotion. But again, we are not converted by emotion. We are not to be driven by emotion, but by His truth and His word. Yes, our emotions will be involved, but they are not the driving factor in who we are as Christians for our emotions can mislead us. Our faith and beliefs must always be founded upon His Word/word and nothing else. Since this is true, we are to preach His word, not drama-team it.
Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Again, this is not accepted by mainline Christianity. But it is what the Bible teaches.
Blessings
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For a better explanation of this, go to Alistair Begg’s site, Truth for Life and listen to the following:
http://www.truthforlife.org/site/News2?abbr=lst&page=NewsArticle&id=5815&news_iv_ctrl=1102
He is probably the best preacher in the country right now. Not just my opinion but the opinion of men like R.C. Sproul, Lig Duncan and Sinclair Ferguson.
Blessings
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I always liked Alistair Begg. I think I’ll subscribe to his Podcast (except I already have too many in my queue already – I have about 150 I haven’t listened to – something has to go!).
I definitely see some risks of using drama in worship. I’m more comfortable with it being used with youth groups or such outside of worship. But for clips on the web I have no issue with it. It is better than much of what you’d get on YouTube. Of course, the doctrine needs to be sound. I have seen some skits where they play fast and loose with the truth. Of course, there are countless sermons doing that as well!
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Hi Neil,
Yes, that was part of what Begg was saying in his sermon, about the different kinds of preachers. The problem with the drama is that those who are inclined to use it all, tend to let it creep into the service.
Blessings
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The letter to the daughters was priceless. 🙂 So very true. (You might want to tell Total Transformation to stop posting pictures of his daughter on the internet. 😉 )
Good article by Carol Everett. It isn’t about “choice;” it’s about an agenda and achieving those ends by exploiting young women.
But your constituents are not all “open-minded,” people, so why not represent them? Would you exclude women from a discussion about rape, under the theory that they are not “open-minded” as to whether or not it should be acceptable in our society?
(Bangs head against monitor.)
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Re, “the service.”
In the Bible some writers give guidelines for who should, and should not, be leaders in the church. I don’t know where, in the Bible, anyone gives guidelines for how a church “service” — a post-biblical thing, as far as I know — should be presented. ??
Jesus used the tools at his disposal — his voice, a boat and the natural amphitheater provided by a lake bank, the Jewish Scriptures. I don’t know if Jesus would have gone on TV. Probably, if someone else put him there, since Jesus was butt-poor. . Jesus surely would have used a microphone if someone put one before him.. His followers, likewise, used the tools that God put before them. Paul contended with the philosophers (admission here, that my earlier kneejerk reaction against the use of logic in presenting or defending the Gospel was just that: kneejerk). Why wouldn’t Jesus and others use whatever other tools were available? Limiting the presentation of the Gospel to “preaching” because of a few verses seems about as constricting as keeping all musical instruments out of a church “serivice” because of a few select verses. Use drama. Eschew drama. But to confuse either with anything other than a cultural habit seems to put form over function: We are to spread the Gospel using whatever abilities we have and whatever tools we find before us.
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But, the spoken word IS the best way to get the Word out, since it requires more imagination on the part of thre hearer.
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