Be transformed by the renewing of your mind

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

Intellectuals generate ideas and ideas matter, whether those ideas are right or wrong, and they matter far beyond the small segment of society who are intellectuals. Ideas affect the fate of whole nations and civilizations.

via Thomas Sowell : Intellectuals and Society – Townhall.com.

Dr. Sowell makes a good point, albeit politically.  This kind of thinking is why I believe teaching and preaching right doctrine is so important.  Ideas matter, and for the Christian right knowing precedes right living.  In order to us to live as Christ intends, we must see the world, sin, mankind and everything as He sees it.  That only happens through teaching the rights ideas.

I see this as one of the great deficiencies of the Evangelical church.  In my limited experience doctrine is briefly taught in a membership class, occasionally referenced from the pulpit and sometimes covered in a small group.  We need Christians who are steeped in Scripture, know what it is they believe, why they believe it and are contemplating how those beliefs change the way we live.

Tax Dollars at Work

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“Our goal is to promote health and save lives with this information,” said Daliah Heller, assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention, Care and Treatment.Asked why the handout tells people how to shoot up, Heller said, “From a health perspective, there is a less harmful way to inject yourself.”

via Heroin for dummies – NYPOST.com.

Drug addicts need help.  I’m not convinced teaching them how to shoot up is the help they need.  I mean, do we produce brochures on safer bank robbing, car jacking or kidnapping?  Of course not.  Yet, for some reason we’ve convinced ourselves that handing out needles and teaching folks how to shoot up is helping them.

Maybe we should be finding better methods of getting folks off of drugs, and perhaps instilling Judeo-Christian values in children from cradle on might help prevent some from even getting started.

Coming Soon to a Terror Cell near you

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Air Force Completes Killer Micro-Drone Project | Danger Room | Wired.com.

So my favorite branch of service seems to have developed a Micro UAV for engaging moving targets.  The main challenge in using UAVs to target bad guys is intelligence.  As the article states, we might mistake an innocent for a Terrorist.

It seems this little killer might help.  Instead of trying to ID a target from 20K feet, a Special Ops team will be able to have eyes on the target while employing this UAV.  Hopefully this results in significant drops in hitting the wrong targets.

Spare the rod and spoil the child?

~ brandon ~ 1 Comment

From FoxNews:

According to the research, children spanked up to the age of 6 were likely as teenagers to perform better at school and were more likely to carry out volunteer work and to want to go to college than their peers who had never been physically disciplined.

Read the whole thing.  It sounds very Proverbs 13:24ish.  While it’s only one study, what I found most intriguing is the cut-off of spanking’s benefit.  Apparently after six, spanking does more harm then good.

So, when children are unable to reason and discuss their wrongdoing, swatting them seems to reinforce important life lessons.  But as they grow in their ability to understand, parents need to move away from corporal punishment.  In other words, discipline must be adapted to the maturity of the child.  I’d add it needs to be adapted to the child.  Not all children are identical, what works for one bears no fruit in another.

Study: Spanked Children May Grow Up to Be Happier, More Successful – Childrens Health – FOXNews.com.

Love and Confrontation

~ brandon ~ 1 Comment

You see two sides of Jesus in the gospels.  You see the side of compassion and mercy.  He heals the sick, gives sight to the blind and so forth.  This is the side of Jesus we see preached and taught most often.  Church outreach focuses on this Jesus and meeting our neighbors needs.  We train people to become involved in other’s lives so that you can see their needs and meet them–thus winning the opportunity to share Christ.  Now, that seems like a winning strategy.  But what of the other side of Jesus?

When a rich man came looking for salvation, Jesus told him to sell everything, give it to the poor and then come follow.  Or, as Jesus puts it elsewhere, “whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me,” (Matthew 10:38, ESV).  So, Christ recognized a time to confront.

America is overflowing with abundance.  Even our poorest are wealthier than much of the world.  Especially in suburban America, the lifestyle among an average American could easily be described as ‘rich.’  Cable?  Check.  Internet?  Check.  House?  Check.  Cars?  Check.  Multiple TVs?  Check.  Air Conditioning?  Check.  On and on it goes, even in the midst of financial need most around here have enough stuff to liquidate they could survive for sometime.

So, where is the line of transition?  At what point is ‘loving’ people to Christ simply enabling a love for material possessions?  At what point odes love become confrontation?  When is it more Christlike to say, “Knock it off and follow Christ,” instead of, “How can we help you?

Jesus was a socialist?

~ brandon ~ 2 Comments

Regardless of your politics, Cal Thomas does a good job of addressing the Christianity = Socialism canard.

Did early Christians live communally?  Yes, but this was not to show the right form of government.  Instead, it is because they really believed they were a family.  They took the whole, “brother and sister” thing quite literally.  As in any family, ownership is shared.  When a brother is starving, we give him our bread.  When a sister needs shelter, we give her our bed.  It doesn’t require some hierarchy telling us, “Thou must.”  It is the natural result of being a family.

WORLD Magazine | Jesus the socialist | Cal Thomas | Dec 24, 09.

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

No, I don’t, but not for religious reasons.  For me, it’s a practical matter.  In the past the resolutions I’ve made (to read the bible more, or to exercise more or what have you), all ended up in the grave of good intentions.  As I talk to folks around me, they seem to have similar experiences.

Instead, I make a daily resolution:  to follow Christ more closely by living more obediently to His Word.  This is the heart of Christianity, daily focusing our energy into applying Christ’s teachings to the circumstances of life.  This resolution can be followed at work or play, with family or alone.  In every circumstance my goal is the same:  to follow Him by obeying Him.

Christ said, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me, (John 10:27).    As you ponder your New Year’s resolutions, why not make your resolution to daily follow Christ?  In doing so we find a rewarding life, and receive eternal life.

We're wired to believe

~ brandon ~ 2 Comments

I have not yet seen Avatar.  Probably won’t either.  I’m not into movies that imply we are the bad guys.  Also, the whole ‘natives were one with nature before Western European men came and ruined it all’ schtick isn’t my bag.  Yet, Jonah Goldberg uses the film to make a great point.  We are wired to believe.

We have within us a natural need to believe.  Some, as evidenced by this article, may see that as an evolutionary construct.  I believe it is hardwired into us by a Creator.  If we assume a Creator, then it makes sense He would create us to believe in Him.  Why would He do otherwise?  This, in turn, explains the human need to believe in something–anything.

My favorite illustration of this is Darwinistic Evolution.  Having rejected the idea of God, Evolutionists show no less faith in ‘science’ and ‘reason’ than I do in Jesus.  Point out holes in their knowledge or theory and you are likely going to hear, “We haven’t figured that out yet.”  Point out contradictions and they’ll suggest further research will answer the questions.  In other words, blind faith in what science may discover tomorrow justifies ignoring flaws today.

In fact, we see this in Global Warming.  When scientists at East Anglia cooked the books to support their Global Warming consensus, they did so like some pagan priest hiding his chicanery to maintain the faith of the masses.

Anyway, we will believe in something–God, science, ourselves, whatever.  The question isn’t whether or not we will believe, but what the object of that belief will be.  For me, I choose to place my faith in the author and perfecter of that faith, Jesus.

Avatar and the faith instinct — latimes.com.