Undocumented Ph.D. Makes History at UC Merced
Yuriana Aguilar says she hopes to open her own medical research lab. She’s got faith that somehow she’ll find a path to citizenship. But even then, she won’t mind working in the fields sometimes — or even buying a lot of land to farm someday. You have to do every job with dignity, she says, and with your heart.
In defense of Trump (and Sanders and Clinton)
We may be called to disagree with someone, when we consider the core tenets of our faith. But let our disagreement be substantive and only chosen after a truly intentional desire to listen to what the candidate actually believes — not just the media’s picture of the candidate.
I Think We Have This Whole Christianity in America Thing Confused
It makes me angry that people are going out giving a bad name for Jesus’ church. This gives people the impression that Christianity is a hateful religion when it should be just the opposite. Instead of using energy to decide who we will not associate with or which business we are boycotting, why don’t we use that energy to think of new ways in reaching the lost, even if those lost are inside Target?
If want this country to change let me assure you that the change will not come from the top down. It is up to you and me. But the goal should not be restoring a “Christian Nation.” The goal always has been and should be to make Christians, to spread the love and grace of God as far as we can. We have to roll up our sleeves and get busy making disciples (Matt. 28:18-20).
The Book of Revelation: A Different Kind of Apocalyptic Text
Oh, and one more thing. People often comment on the violence in Revelation. But it’s very important to note that it’s deferred, especially the vengeance to be meted out to the wicked; and believers have no role in executing that vengeance. Instead, it’s “the armies of heaven” (apparently angelic forces) that ride out in Revelation 19, not an army of believers. In that sense, Revelation is also different from texts such as the “War Scroll” from Qumran (1QM), which appears to portray “the sons of light” (the righteous of the Qumran community) joining in a final battle against “the sons of darkness” (the wicked). In short, Revelation actually provides no basis for believers themselves exacting vengeance or making war against others, even against those who persecute them. Instead, it’s all left in God’s hands and deferred to God’s own time. There again, Revelation actually reflects a striking kind of religious stance.
Pastors: The End of the World is Complicated
McConnell says it’s not a bad thing that pastors disagree on the details of the apocalypse. Most agree on the main teachings about the Second Coming. The rest of the details don’t affect the day-to-day life of most Christians.
“The big picture of Revelation is clear—Jesus returns, people must be ready, evil is defeated,” he says. “With the rest of the details, there is room for disagreement.”
Are You Flexible For The Gospel?
The more a gap opens up between the culture of the church and the culture of the surrounding society, the more important it is to know how to bridge it. But the concern must never be to prove how cosmopolitan and sophisticated and flexible we are. The aim must be “to win as many as possible.”
Meek is not weak. The pastor who feels the need to power his church to greatness through the exercise of his own gifts underestimates the power of the gospel. The pastor convinced he must be the most insightful, the most incisive, the most forceful, or the most commanding has missed the most basic of spiritual truths: God delights to use the meekest of men because they are the most obviously dependent upon him. This does not mean a good pastor is quiet, reticent to lead, or skeptical of his own judgment. Not at all! Yet it does mean a pastor is “quick to hear, slow to speak, [and] slow to anger” (James 1:19).
Preacher, teacher, Sunday entertainer?
I am certainly guilty of expecting the Bible to be all religious and austere. So does your congregation. When we expect it to be boring and conservative, we don’t really notice when the Bible contains humour, irony and hyperbole. We won’t notice Paul including a bad joke about Cretans in Titus, or that the story in Judges about Micah’s idols is supposed to be a farce. We will only notice those things when we ask “Why?”
All this hard labour aims to clarify what God said, so that when you stand up in front of your audience, you can speak God’s words—the most important words in the world—instead of trying to make your generic theologisms more interesting by being a Sunday morning entertainer.
Avoiding Mistakes in the Application of Scripture
Here are some of the most common mistakes to avoid when applying Scripture:
<li>Imagining a spiritual meaning in a narrative text that is not embedded in the text itself.
- Taking historical narratives as prescriptive rather than descriptive.
- Using an application that is not connected with the actual meaning of the text.
- Reading your own theology into the text.
You are the parent now, and you make the rules. If you don’t want your child having an app on their phone (or having a phone in the first place!), it is your Godly duty as a parent to say no. Forget what “all the other parents” are doing. If you believe it’s right, and right for your child, tell them no.
It’s okay to say “no.”
The Backside Blessings of Blogging
- Thoughts are clarified.
- Camaraderie is developed.
- Creativity is cultivated.
- Discipline is encouraged.
- A body of work is collected.
New poll finds 9 in 10 Native Americans aren’t offended by Redskins name
Nine in 10 Native Americans say they are not offended by the Washington Redskins name, according to a new Washington Post poll that shows how few ordinary Indians have been persuaded by a national movement to change the football team’s moniker.
The survey of 504 people across every state and the District reveals that the minds of Native Americans have remained unchanged since a 2004 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found the same result.
The legal mumbo jumbo on popular mobile apps can take over 24 hours to read
The Norwegian Consumer Council also has a grouse against these long and abstruse statements and to prove its point the consumer group has downloaded the terms of service and privacy policies for apps found on an “average” mobile, and are streaming live as guests read out the documents.
“Together they exceed the New Testament in length – and would take more than 24 hours to read out loud,” the group said on their website. They point out that few if any have the time to read when they click ‘ok’ when they sign up to use an app.