That's going to leave a mark

Here is an excerpt from a conversation between Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell and atheist Christopher Hitchens, author of "God is not Great. How Religion Poisons Everything."

Sewell:

The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens:

I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Ouch! An atheist correctly rebukes a liberal "Christian". That's gotta hurt.

The Gospel is such better news than this......

A new book on Pope John Paul II entitled Why He's a Saint written by Vatican Official Monsignor Slawomir Oder reveals that John Paul "frequently spent the night on the bare floor," messing up his bed in the morning so he wouldn't draw attention to his act of penitence.

"But it wasn't limited to this. As some members of his close entourage in Poland and in the Vatican were able to hear with their own ears, John Paul flagellated himself. In his armoire, amid all the vestments and hanging on a hanger, was a belt which he used as a whip and which he always brought to Castel Gandolfo," the papal retreat where John Paul vacationed each summer.(AP Tues., Jan. 26, 2010)

Just one question. Where in the Scriptures do we find anyone punishing themselves to become a better Christian? When the Apostle Paul said that "I discipline my body, making it my slave lest after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified" (I Cor.9:27) he was not speaking of self punishment, but self discipline.

Paul warned about these things saying that this kind of severe treatment of the body has an appearance of wisdom but is of no value against fleshly indulgence (Colossians 2:23)

The Gospel is such better news because it says that Jesus has already borne all the needed punishment. As the old hymn goes, "tis mine but to believe".

PRAY FOR HAITI

News reports of the damage and death toll from the earthquake in Haiti are horrific. The death toll could be in the hundreds of thousands.

Pray for God's mercy upon this nation and pray that God might use this shaking of the Haitian world to turn many to the gospel. Haiti is mostly Roman Catholic and about half the population practices voodoo. Haiti desperately needs the gospel.

UPDATE: The Jacksonville Baptist Association has connections in Haiti and have this site where you can donate and find out more info: http://jbahaiti.org/blog/haiti-earthquake-response/

Also here are a number of organizations you can donate to: http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2188_11_charities_collecting_donations_for_haiti/

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD OVER FOOTBALL

Living in 2010 as an alien and a stranger

Here is a quote from Harry Smith of the CBS Early Show broadcast this morning as he reflects on 2009...

"Politics, and patriotism and the presidency: it is the place where the secular and the religious merge. One of the sacraments of our national religion is the inauguration. So it was that as many as two million pilgrims made their way to Washington and the Mall to witness this most sacred event."

The unbelieving world has nothing but the unbelieving world to put its hope and faith in, hence the worship of the current president.

Let's live 2010 as those who are looking forward to a better country, a heavenly one (Hebrews 11:16).



P.S. About the above picture:

Statue of the Emperor Octavian Augustus

This statue was created after the death of Octavian (reigned 31st BC-14 th AD), during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. The worship of the emperor began even during the lifetime of Octavian (in 27 BC the Senate awarded him the title Augustus: the Holy, divine Son, father of the native land, descendant of Venus and Aeneas), and under his successors this became an official cult. Here the emperor is represented as Jupiter, the supreme God of the Roman pantheon, and this statue is a typical example of Roman sculpture from the time of the Empire. The composition was adapted from the celebrated sculpture of Zeus by Phidias, which allowed the placing of the appropriate attributes in Augustus's hands: a Nike and a sceptre. The sculptor preserved the emperor's portrait features, but idealized them to create a formal cult statue.

(info from the State Hermitage Museum)