Not So Famous…

I heard about Kennedy’s heart attack awhile ago, and I’ve been wondering if he was going to return to a teaching capacity, but it looks as though he will not.  I’ve been of 2 minds regarding Kennedy, and I hope I’ll be able to explain what I mean here:

To begin with, up until recently, I’d heard nothing but political speeches from D. James Kennedy’s broadcasts. All I had heard was how the gays were trying to take over our schools, the Left was going to make the Religious Right’s life difficult,  etc., etc.  This led to me believing that at his church, no Bible-teaching was done. You can see why this would disturb me.  I DO believe that our beliefs ought to influence our political views, just as our beliefs ought to influence all that we do.  But a church that merely encourages political activism is no church at all.

Secondly, I knew that D. James Kennedy was the founder of Evangelism Explosion, which I viewed as the ultimate sales pitch for the Gospel.  I felt that underlying EE’s mission was the thought that we ought to seek to make the Bible attractive to the lost, which sort of screws with the sovereignty of the Gospel.  This sort of imputes a seeker-sensitive mentality to EE’s presentations, which totally ignore the fact that Paul in Romans explains that no one is seeking after God.  We ought to preach the Word of God, and those whom the Lord enables to come to repentance will respond to His word being preached. This is one of the destructive things that Arminianism has brought about in our day, namely that mankind only responds to the Word of God when it’s made cool enough, or made fun enough. This spits in the face of the sovereignty of God, Who saves whom He will save, and hardens whom He will harden. 

So my thoughts on D. James Kennedy were admittedly not high.  I did not doubt his salvation, and I did not doubt there were those who were being saved through his ministry.  God is merciful.  However, I would not have placed D. James Kennedy on my list of recommended preachers.

I’m sure I’ll be accused of denominational thinking here, but what started the ball rolling on my recent change of heart was upon hearing that Coral Ridge was a Presbyterian church. (PCA, to be exact.) Now, I’m not saying that the Presbyterians have it all together, just as I would say that other denominations don’t have it all right either.  However, the more orthodox branches of the Presbyterian Church (PCA, OPC, etc.) tend to higher doctrinal standards than much of what you’ll hear on Christian radio these days.  I wondered if perhaps what I had heard thus far was not representative of what Kennedy primarily taught at his church.  Perhaps his radio ministry was primarily political, while the Bible was taught at the church.  I didn’t know.  My thoughts on EE hadn’t really changed at all, but I wondered if I’d been too hasty to label Mr. Kennedy as being primarily concerned with politics and the outward form of the Christian religion.  However, I didn’t hear anything else to make be believe otherwise.

I have since heard a couple sermons from his radio show, however, that have been pretty darn good, which has surprised me.  The final surprise, however, was this post by Rick Phillips, from Reformation21, where Rick describes D. James Kennedy as a believer in 5-Point Calvinism, which also surprised me a great deal.

Basically, the call to all men is to repent of their sins and trust in Christ. Whether or not they’re elect doesn’t enter into it, really. So to evangelize is to give that call personally to all men.  Having a proper doctrine of soteriology (salvation) really isn’t the job of the evangelist, but rather, it’s the job of the church to teach proper doctrine.  The evangelist needs only preach the Word and point people to godly churches. EE, then, is not incompatible with Calvinism, but is merely a method for fulfilling the Great Commission.  According to Mr. Phillips of Reformation21, EE’s curriculum maintains it’s Biblical fidelity.  What more could any Reformed person want?

Anyway, feel free to check out the blog post at: http://www.reformation21.org/Reformation_21_Blog/Reformation_21_Blog/58/pm__114/vobId__6460/

I happened to be on MySpace, which I normally hate, and this made me laugh so hard, I was crying.  LOL

Today, someone representing Progressive Building Publications called our CFO and claimed that we had ordered some newsletter from them, had received 5 or so issues, had been sent 10 invoices, and were now being sent to collections for non-payment of debt. ($299, to be precise.)  We had received none of these publications, and we had definitely not received the 10 invoices.  The lady on the phone quoted our CFO’s birthday, and claimed that as proof that we had ordered the stupid publications.  The lady claimed to be from International Credit Recovery at (607) 748-4686.  Our CFO asked for an example of the publications that we supposedly got, and gave her our fax number. The lady promised to send them along, and it’s been hours since we heard anything from them.

I did some searches and found nothing on Progressive Building Publications.  But I did a search on the phone number and this supposed credit recovery scam, and it’s definitely a scam.  We sent them nothing, and neither should you.  Be aware, that if someone refuses to provide proof of a debt or anything of the sort, they’re likely a scam.  Real collections agencies can get nasty, but if you show an interest in wanting to pay off your debt, they’re very cooperative.  (Unless you’ve shown that you can’t be trusted in the past.)  Ultimately, if someone talks fast, and provides no proof, but insists that you owe them money, don’t believe it.  In addition, this woman actually had the gall to claim that someone was throwing our mail away.  We don’t even have a mailbox, lady!  The mail-lady delivers the mail into our hands, and if someone IN the company were throwing it away, don’t you think we’d be receiving notices like this from other companies.  No, it’s a scam.  Don’t fall for it.

In other news, Mother Teresa apparently experienced much doubt of her faith when she was doing all the good works.  (Per some letters that the church is now revealing.)  Apparently her doubting her faith is a sign that she really should be a saint or something…makes no sense to me.  All I know is that if Mother Teresa was trusting in her works to get her to heaven, she’s not there.  If she thought that she could earn her way into heaven with anything she did, she’s going to hell, and that isn’t MY judgment.  I have no judgment on the matter…it’s what the Bible says:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” - Ephesians 2:8-9

Trust in Christ ALONE for your salvation.  If you don’t, then you’re trusting in something that can never save you.

There are a lot of e-mail scams out there. Some promise money for nothing. Some promise drugs for cheap. Many warn you that your account at your bank may have been compromised, so please log in and enter your account details to verify that you are you. Some are from PayPal. Some are from MySpace, FaceBook, or one of the myriad other social networking sites. All have something in common…they want to help make your life miserable.

If what I get in my e-mail inbox is representative of what everyone else is getting, e-mail scams (phishing scams) are on the rise! They’re as sneaky as ever, and they want to charge up tens of thousands of dollars on your credit cards, or to your bank accounts. Just recently at my workplace, I’ve had 2 employees get scammed, and this was after 2 or 3 warning e-mails from me asking people to be careful, and to watch out for e-mail scams. I gave them the warning signs of a scam (which their respective scams had), and told them how to avoid being scammed. They still clicked the links in e-mail, and gave their information to a scammer.

What are the warning signs?

1. Links that contain a bunch of numbers instead of a normal-looking web address. Such as http://192.168.1.1 instead of http://www.ebay.com. If links contain numbers like that, it’s a scam.
2. Links that are not what they seem. Such as this: http://blog.thedow.org. (In case you didn’t notice, that link will not send you to my blog. Mouseover it before clicking it, and you’ll see that it sends you to Amazon.
3. Any e-mail asking you to confirm your personal or credit card information, open an e-card from “a classmate” or anything involving clicking a link. The above 2 concepts are important, but it’s best to be suspicious of anything you receive in your Inbox. I support anti-virus and anti-spam, but I think these products are lulling us into a false sense of security, assuming that if our “anti-” products didn’t warn us, it must be safe. It’s best to just not trust anything.

So how do you avoid getting scammed?

1. Don’t click links in e-mails! I can’t tell you this enough. You can’t get scammed if you don’t act on these e-mails. If you HAVE to check your account details to make sure your bank, credit cards, or PayPal accounts aren’t getting charged, then open up your browser and type “www.paypal.com” into the address bar. You’ll go to the REAL PayPal site, where you can log in without fear and check your account. The same is true of your credit card companies, banks, etc. If you don’t know their web address, then call them. It’s ALWAYS safer than potentially being scammed.
2. NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION! PayPal does not ask you to confirm your credit card information. They may tell you that your credit card is expiring. (Check your credit card before entering anything!) They may tell you that your credit card is no longer valid. But they don’t ask you to “confirm your account details”. Neither will your bank, or any other financial institution. They’ve had these policies in place for years to avoid people getting scammed via phone. The policies have helped for web scams as well.
3. Never send money to anyone who “needs your help”. There are plenty of ways to help people that don’t involve sending money to Nairobi, Nigeria, or anywhere unfamiliar. Give to a Gospel Mission…go buy food for some homeless people. Don’t send money to ANYONE online, unless you’re using PayPal or paying at a reputable site to pay for a purchase or auction or something of that nature.
4. Don’t purchase from no-name sites. I realize that there are plenty of no-name sites that are fine. But for all of those, there are plenty that are not. Buy from Amazon, or even a physical store online, like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. Pick a store you like and purchase from them. Those sites use encryption that will protect your transaction, as well as the fact that they have reputations to uphold…you know they’re not going to scam you.

Basically, trust is something you should give out on the Internet VERY sparingly. When it comes to e-mails or websites, it’s always safer to assume they’re bogus than to try to explain to your credit card company that you didn’t buy a new car in Zimbabwe, let alone a Rolls Royce. Better safe than sorry, and there are plenty of stories out there of people who are very, very sorry for falling for Nigerian scammers, or e-mail phishing scams, etc.

First off, I’d like to say that I agree with his politics, for the most part.  I don’t know that there’s anything he’s said politically that I don’t agree with.  I’m a pretty conservative guy.  I have conservative values.  On the whole, I think that government is too big, and they give away too much money. I think the government needs to ratchet WAY back on spending, and get back to spending intelligently rather than raising taxes.  I don’t give money to people who have proven that they cannot be trusted with money. I don’t want to throw MORE money to a government who spends poorly.  I don’t think we should allow EVERYONE into this country.  I think if people come into the country, they should speak the language we speak, and they should pay taxes.  If they’re not here legally, I don’t want them to receive funding from the government. If you’re not here legally, and you get caught, I think you should be deported.  It’s very simple.  I know people aren’t going to agree with me. I don’t much care.  Just explaining that my political views are close to Michael Savage’s.  But I don’t listen to him anymore.

My problem is not with Savage’s politics, but rather with his apparent hatred for those who disagree with him.  I’m not telling others what they’re thinking, but I think it’s worthwhile to realize that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”  If Savage is this…well…savage on the radio, you can imagine what is in his heart.

Finally, I’m sick of the anger. Vote your beliefs, please. Vote for people who will make good presidents, etc.  But I am sick of him screaming and throwing his childish tantrums.  I’m not attacking him, here…I’m just explaining that as a Christian, I need to find better things to listen to on the way home.  I don’t always agree with Dr. James Dobson from Focus on the Family, or Pastor Rick Countryman from Big Valley Grace Community Church, but at least when I listen to them, I hear the Word of God.  By listening to them, I am hearing the Word of God preached, and while I disagree with some of what I hear, that in and of itself is practice to learn to recognize when the Word of God is being misapplied.  I can then formulate an argument (not an angry argument…just one side of a debate) as to why what he said is wrong.

But I would also remind everyone here that while the evangelicals do not always have things right, neither do we.  On this side of our own resurrections, we’re not going to have it all right.  That doesn’t mean we don’t contend for the faith.  It means that there’s no room for argument.  My drive home needs to be a relaxing thing.  I need to greet my wife with love for her and a happiness to be home, not a lingering anger from what he Left is doing.

This isn’t comprehensive…just making a point.  :)

In the tradition of the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, I have double-titled this post. It made me happy.

Man, this Friday couldn’t come soon enough. I’ve had a lot going on this week, and it’s just made me more and more tired.  I’m sure staying up until midnight almost every night reading Kate Elliott’s Crown of Stars series isn’t really helping, but I can’t help it.  I’ve got a lot of books on my to-read list, and I’m not getting through them fast enough. (Never thought I’d say that.)

Yesterday was nice for a couple reasons. To begin with, because I worked for 3 hours from home on Wednesday, I was able to get off work a couple hours early and come home to my beautiful wife.  Kim had planned for us to go to Yesterday’s Books, which is always a fun trip.

Yesterday’s Books is a used bookstore, which will take some books in exchange for cash or store credit.  They often have out of print books and the like, which can be difficult to find elsewhere. In this particular instance, Kim had convinced me to get rid of some books.  Many of you know that I am quite the packrat when it comes to…well…anything. Books are no exception; I hate to throw them away! These books were of the happy-clappy theology variety, which I had purchased long ago. I knew I’d never read through them again, as I felt their theological worth was fairly low, considering the wealth of writings from the Reformers or early church fathers. The end result was that we had books to turn in…a fairly sizeable bag of them!  WOO!

They didn’t end up taking many of them, but any amount of credit is nice, since there is always something I can find there, and when Kim initiates a trip to Yesterday’s Books, it means that she’s agreed to spend some money on books!  I’ll take that when I can get it.

I bought my first “The Saint” novel, by Leslie Charteris. Many of you have probably seen the movie, starring Val Kilmer. It was a good movie.  Some of you may have even seen the series, starring Roger Moore. Few of you have likely read the books, however. Obtaining and reading some of The Saint novels by Leslie Charteris has been a goal of mine for some time. I grabbed the only Saint novel they had. I feel special.

In addition to “The Saint”, a good espionage series that I’m sure most, if not all of you know is the James Bond series. The original James Bond novels were written by Ian Fleming, and were very excellent, if short, stories. After the death of Ian Fleming, John Gardener was licensed to continue the Bond Series.  His books do justice to the character of Bond, if they don’t contain the exact same sense of mystery that the original books do. I picked up a couple of John Gardener Bond Books: Licence to Kill (A novelization of the movie by the same name), Nobody Lives Forever, Brokenclaw, and Death is Forever. (I think those are the ones I purchased.)

Finally, I purchased a book I’ve been wanting to read, which was written by an author named Neal Stephenson. The book I’ve read by him is called Snow Crash, and is an excellent work of over-the-top cyberpunk! Well worth reading, if anyone is interested in that genre. There are a couple scenes in that particular book that are for over 15, I would say, but overall, it’s a very well-done book.  The book I purchased yesterday, however, is called Cryptonomicon, and I have really no idea what it is about. It’s one of those books that I’ve been wanting to buy for a couple years now, but never really had the opportunity. I’ve heard mixed reviews about Cryptonomicon, so I’m not expecting something absolutely stellar, but if it’s enjoyable, I’ll be sure to write something on here.

I think that was all I got, but I am very happy with the purchases.  There are several from a previous trip that I have not yet spoken about, nor have I read.  I’ll have to dig them up.  See, the problem is in a fundamental disagreement that I am having with my wife.  She doesn’t like having massive stacks of books on the headboard. I, on the other hand, LOVE having massive stacks of books on the headboard, as it’s what reminds me to read them.  Without that stack, I forget what books I’ve yet to read, and which books I’ve already read.  Many of my books are parts of series’, so it’s very difficult for me to remember, say, which James Bond books I’ve read, and which I’ve not.  Anyway, my new purchases have been put away already, which is sort of why I’m writing about them here! If I can refer back to this post, maybe I’ll actually be able to figure out which ones were new!

I’m looking forward to this weekend, as well, but I already wrote about what’s going on.  I’ll only add that Shawn, who forgot that Sacramento was not in the Bay Area, ended up being able to come to Kim and my house for the weekend, so he’s going to be able to participate after all!  :)  See you all on the flip side.

Address To A Haggis (in Scots) - Robert Burns

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace
As lang’s my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o’ need,
While thro’ your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An’ cut you up wi’ ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn,
they stretch an’ strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve,
Are bent lyke drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
“Bethankit!” ‘hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi’ perfect sconner,
Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him ower his trash,
As feckless as a wither’d rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro’ bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He’ll mak it whissle;
An’ legs an’ arms, an’ heads will sned,
Like taps o’ thrissle.

Ye Pow’rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o’ fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu’ prayer,
Gie her a haggis!

The Translation

Fair is your honest happy face
Great chieftain of the pudding race
Above them all you take your place
Stomach, tripe or guts
Well are you worthy of a grace
As long as my arm

The groaning platter there you fill
Your buttocks like a distant hill
Your skewer would help to repair a mill
In time of need
While through your pores the juices emerge
Like amber beads

His knife having seen hard labour wipes
And cuts you up with great skill
Digging into your gushing insides bright
Like any ditch
And then oh what a glorious sight
Warm steaming, rich

Then spoon for spoon
They stretch and strive
Devil take the last man, on they drive
Until all their well swollen bellies
Are bent like drums
Then, the old gent most likely to rift (burp)
Be thanked, mumbles

Is there that over his French Ragout
Or olio that would sicken a pig
Or fricassee would make her vomit
With perfect disgust
Looks down with a sneering scornful opinion
On such a dinner

Poor devil, see him over his trash
As week as a withered rush (reed)
His spindle-shank a good whiplash
His clenched fist.the size of a nut.
Through a bloody flood and battle field to dash
Oh how unfit

But take note of the strong haggis fed Scot
The trembling earth resounds his tread
Clasped in his large fist a blade
He’ll make it whistle
And legs and arms and heads he will cut off
Like the tops of thistles

You powers who make mankind your care
And dish them out their meals
Old Scotland wants no watery food
That splashes in dishes
But if you wish her grateful prayer
Give her a haggis!

Tom in the Box has been known to post some funny stuff. He’s recently gotten a couple others to write for him on some days. Today’s post, however, is a little too close to reality to make me laugh.

http://tominthebox.blogspot.com/2007/08/youth-pastor-fired-teaches-too-much.html

I’m sure some of you are wondering if equating this article to reality is a little over the top. I might give you that. After all, I’ve not heard of anyone firing a pastor because he teaches the Word of God. I’ve heard of pastors being fired because they taught heretical doctrines, which they THOUGHT came from the Word of God. However, that’s not the same. Heretical doctrines can be shown to be false from the Word of God itself.

However, I HAVE heard people saying the following:

“I don’t see why you have a problem with that pastor. I mean, his stories talk about good principles, and the Bible doesn’t have a problem with that!”

“I didn’t like that pastor. He did nothing but teach the Bible. Heck, I can read the Bible, myself. I want to know how we ought to live.”

Now, I’m not saying it’s not the pastor’s job to do some application, but the implication in what these people have said is that the pastor should not be teaching the Bible; that a Pastor should teach using stories, or should just explain how we ought to live, and NOT teach the Bible.

It’s a short step from where we are to the situation described in Tom in the Box’s latest article, written by Elder Eric. And that’s no laughing matter.

Also, please keep in mind that I’m not saying that it’s not a good post, or that it ought not to be posted. Quite the contrary. I hope everyone reads this post and thinks about it.

As many of you know, when I was in Scotland, I tried haggis, and absolutely fell in love with it.  Now, I know that many of you will think I am a nasty, nasty person for eating something made from heart, liver, lungs, and steamed in a stomach. Before I tried haggis, I would tend to agree with you. It just sounds nasty…

However, it’s not nasty. When haggis is done RIGHT, it cannot be described, but it is one tasty dish.

When I got back to the States, I was dismayed to find that at least one of the traditional ingredients of haggis is prohibited by law. Lungs cannot be sold for human consumption in the United States, but that hasn’t prevented people from coming up with USDA-approved versions of haggis!

One of those companies is Caledonian Kitchen, based in Texas. Their Scottish Haggis w/ Highland Beef is simply wonderful. It is a dead ringer for the best haggis I had while in Scotland, at a pub called The Clachan near Loch Lomond. Just tasty!

Well, buying haggis from the Caledonian Kitchen, while satisfying, can be costly, because of shipping charges. Unless you buy several cans at once, it makes less sense to buy from them. They do sell to retail stores, but nothing nearby.

I DID find a store in Sacramento, though, that sells another brand of haggis. Stahley Quality Foods out of Chicago makes a skinless haggis, that retails for less than Caledonian Kitchen.  However, here’s the problem:

I’ve got a couple of friends coming over a week from this Saturday, and we’re going to make haggis-topped chicken with a whiskey cream sauce. I want to ensure that the haggis I serve is good! I KNOW that the Caledonian Kitchen haggis is superb. I don’t know about the Stahley’s.  I will tell you that I have had some nasty haggis before, and I’m pretty sure by the texture that it came from a can. The only two ways to get canned haggis in the States that I’ve seen is the Stahley’s and the Caledonian Kitchen, which means that it’s possible that the Stahley’s is the nasty stuff…  I’m concerned.

So what I’m doing is thusly:  I have ordered 6 cans of the Caledonian Kitchen haggis. It’s more cost effective to buy more cans, since shipping remains somewhat constant. And Saturday, Gabe, Kim, and I are going to Sac to buy a couple cans of the potentially gag-worthy stuff.  ;)  Gabe and I will do a test run of our haggis topped chicken or steak with the whiskey cream sauce, and see if it tastes like minced butt!

However, we’re also going to BJ’s Brewhouse while we’re in Sac, just to enjoy some good food and brews.  Finally, we need to kick over to BevMo for some single malt whiskey for the cream sauce, and I’ve got a recipe to bust me off some of that!  WOO!  Should be a fun weekend.

Now, I generally make it a point to not obtain my theology from things like the Bob and Tom Show.  I do listen to that particular radio show on my way in because they often have some very stellar comedians on there, and because of FCC regulations, they have to at least be sort of clean. I’ve discovered some of my favorite comedians through listening to that show: Mike Birbiglia, Jim Gaffigan, Brian Regan!  Some great ones.

In fact, Mike Birbiglia was on the Bob and Tom Show today, and he said something in his Secret Public Journal feature on the show that really stuck with me. It was so profound and true that I KNOW he didn’t intend for it to be so.

To begin with, he was talking about how Christian say things like “God hates gay people”, or “God loves me.”  He mentioned that there was a guy at a store he goes to who is ALWAYS rude to him, who ALWAYS wears a tie that says, “Jesus loves me!” First off, the irony that Mr. Birbiglia brings up is pretty important for those of us who name the name of Christ to think upon. If we walk around treating everyone like crap, what will they think of Christ? Now, I’m not holding you personally responsible for the salvation of anyone, but how are you being obedient to Christ in not loving those around you?  This is not my main point, but it bears thinking about.

After he said this, however, he said something profound:

“I think Jesus is a little like the popular kid in high school. Everyone says they’re his friend.  But I don’t think He’d list all of them in his Top 8 spaces on MySpace or anything.”

WHOA! You’re right Mike.  In fact, though I will credit you for that joke, I wonder how much of the source material comes from Matthew 7:21-23:

“Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” - Matthew 7:21-23

How many people say “Lord, Lord”, who are not known by Christ.  Who knew comedy could be so astute?  :)