Nancy Leigh DeMoss Endorsing Chalk Circles? Mercy. — What is it with otherwise-orthodox people embracing these pagan fads?
I have never bothered to address the problems with the book The Circle Maker, because the whole concept of “circle making” was simply so patently pagan and ridiculous on the face of it that I assumed it would be obvious to any Christian how unbiblical this book was. When Christian apologist Chris Rosebrough and Pastor Tim Challies both thoroughly exposed the theological issues with the book (links below), I continued to assume this was a “no-brainer” for most Christians. Sadly however, I am getting more and more emails from people saying that their church leaders are recommending The Circle Maker, doing a Bible study with it, passing it out, etc. So just in case you have not heard about this book, let me try to fill in the gaps: The Circle Maker is a book authored by Pastor Mark Batterson (Wash DC), in which Batterson teaches that we should literally draw circles (with chalk as the suggested implement) around our dreams and pray them into completion. . . .
Well, as a former pagan, I’m just telling all of you right now, if someone comes into my church and starts getting out the chalk and talking about drawing circles around things, I am not walking, I am RUNNING for the door. And yes, I know the argument is probably something along the lines of, Well this helps me underscore my prayers to God. My response: Really? And this is where, exactly, in Scripture? And why should a Christian feel the need for a ritual? Why can’t we just pray, simply, with the faith of a child? My friends, spiritual rituals are for pagans, not Christians.
Also see Why are mature men of the faith suddenly seeming to go off the narrow road of orthodoxy and saying or doing wacky things? C’mon, people, let’s finish strong! Don’t feel like you have to invent something new.
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The Worst Piece of Legislation in American History — It is hard to imagine, but the amnesty bill may be worse than Obamacare. There is no way those voting for it could have read it all. I’d love to know what blackmail or bribes took place to get Republicans to vote for it. Surely they can’t be so stupid to think that this will help them in elections, right?
The only good news is that it should make future votes easier. Anyone supporting this travesty should be voted out of office.
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Former atheist turned Christian through Dawkin’s website continues strong faith in God — He seemed pretty devoted to Dawkins but was turned off by Dawkins’ fans and how they interacted with a minister. I’ve had them try to attack this site before. They are quite charming.
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I enjoyed this charitable debate: Jason Lisle debates Hugh Ross on the age of the Earth
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Debt isn’t required — Some good challenges on how to get — and stay — debt free.
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Good news: Exodus International is gone, but Overcomers Network and others are taking its place, and in a much better way.
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Does that Gibson Guitar raid make more sense now? — This case alone is evidence of Obama illegally abusing his power to punish his enemies.
An editorial at Investors Business Daily may wind up being filed under how did I miss this one? Following the recent revelations of cases where the administration appears to have used the muscle of the federal government to go after its political enemies, IBD takes a walk down memory lane to the strange case of Gibson Guitars and the federal raids on their facilities for alleged illegal importing of exotic woods used in their products. They reach one provocative conclusion.
The inexplicable raid nearly two years ago on a guitar maker for using allegedly illegal wood that its competitors also used was another targeting by this administration of its political enemies…
Interestingly, one of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Co. According to C.F. Martin’s catalog, several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood,” which is the exact same wood in at least 10 of Gibson’s guitars. So why were they not also raided and their inventory of foreign wood seized?
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A great question to ask for years to come: Question for pro-choice Dems: If gun control is worth doing if it saves just one life, how about limiting late-term abortions? It works against gun control and for the pro-life ethic.
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The Backwards Trial: A George Zimmerman Prosecution Primer — A must read if you’ve followed this case at all. The racism industry is alive and well.
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Fathers don’t mother — It is bizarre how controversial such a simple and obvious statement has become. This society is working overtime as Romans 1 poster children in suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.
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Fault Tolerance a greater foe to Darwinism than Irreducible Complexity — Just another flaw in the Darwinian philosophy that most of its cheerleaders aren’t even aware of.
Irreducibly Complex systems are those systems (man-made or otherwise), where removal of critical core parts results in malfunction.
By way of contrast, fault tolerant systems allow removal of parts or entire sub-systems, yet intended function is still retained. Removable parts or subsystems in fault tolerant architectures are also contrasted with useless parts which serve no purpose. Like spare tires, removable parts in a fault tolerant systems can still serve a purpose even if never used.. . .If selection has problems preserving fault tolerance, why should it construct it in the first place?
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Don’t miss Dear Cecile Richards: MLK did not support black genocide. People who kill unwanted babies for a living don’t mind distorting reality. I’ve also seen radical pro-abortionist, false teaching, race-baiting Chuck “Jesus is not the only way” Currie pretend that MLK was pro-abortion.
Dear Cecile Richards,
Please stop abusing civil rights history to justify your present-day killing fields. Martin Luther King Jr’s memory is not a dummy that you can manipulate like a ventriloquist. Although he regrettably accepted the inaugural Margaret Sanger Award from the nation’s largest birth control chain in 1966, he wasn’t praising the slaughter of millions that Planned Parenthood was plotting to make central to its mission.
The nation’s abortionist-in-chief tweeting about Juneteenth, a celebration of the abolition of the dehumanizing institution of slavery, is like China celebrating freedom of speech. “No one is free until all are free” apparently doesn’t apply to the millions of innocent human beings Planned Parenthood grinds in industrial garbage disposals, flushes down drains or stuffs into biohazard waste bags.
As with everything else with your billion-dollar empire, one has to put things into a truthful context. In 1966, abortion wasn’t legal. MLK wasn’t praising the dismembering and suctioning of defenseless human beings. He, like many others during the 60s when Planned Parenthood feigned advocacy of strong families, was duped by an industry birthed in eugenic racism, that preached overpopulation mythology, demanded discriminatory immigration policies, and promoted forced sterilizations through its state eugenics boards. By the way, Elaine Riddick sends her love. Thanks to Planned Parenthood, she was one of over 60,000 people sterilized as part of your organization’s “proud” history. If you want to accurately depict history, Maafa21 is a great resource.
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I’m the gym guy, not the farm guy, but I still liked this.
This is a simple, true and excellent point. Perhaps the West should ask the resident Muslims to lobby for minority rights in Muslim countries before demanding more things here.