A Warped Worldview: Another Moral Effect of Pornography

This research, taken together, offers compelling proof that an individual’s worldview is shaped by influences that are often not recognized. Therefore, the Christian thinker must be constantly aware that worldviews are not shaped only by arguments and cognitive engagements, but also by impressions and experiences.
Put bluntly, our worldview is shaped by what we allow to enter our minds. Given the massive psychological and physiological effects of pornography on male users, we should hardly be surprised that exposure to porn is so closely associated with the development of a generally permissive sexual morality and, specifically, with increased support for same-sex marriage.

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Are We On The Brink Of A New Reformation?

It feels that at some point, we might have lost our way. Perhaps we became more concerned with success than fruitfulness. Jesus says we evaluate things in the Kingdom on their fruitfulness…but somewhere along the way it became about the size of your tree. Now having a big tree is a fine thing. Just know you’re only successful in evaluating yourself against the size of other trees, and God has never been terribly concerned about tree size. Just fruitfulness. That’s it. The point of a tree isn’t how big your tree is but how much fruit you have. It’s about fruit! And in the Kingdom, fruitfulness is always about reproduction. (Specifically, reproducing disciples…multiplying Jesus’ life into the life of others who can then go and do the same.)

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Lost in Translation: A surprising gain in English translations

What I hadn’t realized, however, is that not only are readers of English not grasping everything the text has to say, they are also getting a lot more words in the process. Anyone who has done translation work knows that it is not like solving a mystery or connecting the dots. One word in Greek doesn’t necessarily equal one word in English. It can sometimes require as many as seven words in English to be translated clearly. This means that our English Bibles are thicker than those in the original languages.

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10 Hard Questions Every Planter Needs to Ask

These are people who might believe in God (whatever that means for them), have a respect for Jesus and are on a spiritual journey, but they don’t consider the church (as we know it) as a resource to help them take steps. And it is likely they never will. They pursue their spirituality through culture, friendships, music, TV personalities, their own study of the Bible, self-help books and more. A study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life conducted in early 2010 reports, “… more than a quarter of Americans born after 1981 have no religious preference or affiliation. Fewer than one in five teens and 20-somethings frequent worship services” But the study also revealed that young adults pray as often as their elders did at that age and share an equally strong faith in God. More and more young adults are pursuing their faith outside of the church.

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One Family Under God

While I would never pretend that there is only one set way—or even one best way—to answer that question, there are certain biblical principles that must be observed as a church considers how to structure its energies for ministering to all ages.

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What Do You Want?

What does your congregation want?
Are you known in your community for loving, serving, and making a difference in the world around you or are you locked tightly behind double doors? Are you afraid of getting involved with others because they look and act and sin differently from you? Are you so set in your ways that you refuse to bring others in? Do you want to be left alone as you go about your Sunday and Wednesday routine turning a blind eye to the needy, hurting, and lost?

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Pray for Peace that Trumps Tribe in Kenya

But is tribe too compelling for the transforming power of the gospel in Kenya? Many Christians were forced to re-examine their faiths. What did it really mean to be a Christian? Is allegiance to my tribe more important than allegiance to my local church? What role can the church play to ensure that 2013 will not resemble 2008? Are peace walks, peace placards, peace concerts, and peace conferences enough? Or is there more?

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It’s Better To Be Faithful Than Gifted

If diligence and faithfulness are so important in the world, then let us disciples of Jesus be diligent to pursue him, use our gifts, and serve others.

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How To Handle Your Critics

How do we handle critics? Well in reality, often with tears and anguish. Such is the point. If we choose not to quit (not to run), we will be forced to mature. One of God’s most valuable tools in his Network is that of the barking dogs.

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The Six Best Words for any Relationship

But these six words are the most powerful words in the English language, and they need to be spoken often and meaningfully in any relationship: marriage, parent/child, employer/employee, friend/friend.

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What pre-believers listen for in sermons

These observations make sense when we think of the audience. When we assume the audience are Bible believers with lots of Christian life experience we also assume they want to know what the Bible says and they’ll work to apply it. When we assume our audience are not believers we must assume they aren’t willing to give the Bible a pass on truth and credibility. So we connect first with life, then show how life as they experience it connects to the text.

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Arminius and Open Theism

Historically, there are at least three positions in this discussion with Classic Arminianism holding the “middle ground.” (1) The Sovereignty of the Divine Decrees where God has decreed from eternity what will happen within human history (Reformed scholasticism); (2) The Sovereignty of Divine Engagement where God is active, or concurs, in every event within human history such that every event has divine purpose and meaning though without divine decrees determining what will happen within human history (classic Arminianism); and (3) The Sovereignty of the Divine Project where God, for the sake of the divine project risks the effects and meaning of human history in such a way that it is beyond divine management for the greater good but does not endanger God’s ultimate goal or project (open theism).

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Astronauts Traveling To Mars Could Be Protected By a Poop Shield

The plan would be about as simple as it sounds: create an outside layer for the capsule where the people are, and fill it with feces. But poop isn’t the only effective radiation deflector. Food does a pretty good job too, and without actually becoming radioactive itself, so chances are it could be incorporated into the shielding too. Hopefully far away from the waste. Likewise, water can help too, both drinking water and the waste water it turns into.

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Brooklyn man fakes his own kidnapping to explain two-week absence to girlfriend

A Brooklyn man faked his own kidnapping because he was terrified of his lover’s wrath.
Rahmell Pettway, 36, told cops he spent two weeks away from his Bedford-Stuyvesant home — and then staged the crime to explain his absence to his girlfriend.

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The Top 13 Demotivators® Posters Of All Time

Meanwhile, back on Earth, dysfunction, nepotism and sometimes even outright exploitation remain the order of the day in most workplaces. It is for those of you earthbound realists and demoralized cynics that we created Despair.com and Demotivators® demotivational posters in the first place.

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Cover-Up Artist Removes Tattoos of Ex-Gang Members for Free

Since 2011, Baker, who’s also a youth pastor, has created more than 500 free tattoos for former gang members and victims of human trafficking eager to remove or cover up the visible evidence of their past. Big city human trafficking networks are often run by gang members, who tattoo their victims with barcodes, pimps’ names or gang symbols to track them and make it almost impossible for them to escape.

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What was life like for the settlers of Canaan during the time of the Biblical Judges?

These surveys provided much useful information about daily life in ancient Israel during the period of the Biblical Judges, including the arrangement and size of tribal villages and even the nature of early Israelite economic and political systems. Excavation data, both from recent excavations (Shiloh, for example) and from digs long past (such as Bethel), also provide evidence of daily life in ancient Israel, including the society’s wealth, warfare and housing.

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The Learning Virtues

The simplest way to summarize her findings is that Westerners tend to define learning cognitively while Asians tend to define it morally. Westerners tend to see learning as something people do in order to understand and master the external world. Asians tend to see learning as an arduous process they undertake in order to cultivate virtues inside the self.

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10 Unconventional (But Very Effective) Tips For Job Seekers

Hockett agrees and says if you are going to try some unconventional job seeking methods, you should “always be grounded with solid research and a clear direction of your intentions; then you will be ready for any opportunity to make a connection resulting in a positive impact on a hiring manager.”
Parnell says generally speaking, unconventional methods should be used sparingly, judiciously and only when necessary. “And when you do decide to use them, factor comprehensively by recognizing things like industry standards, personalities involved, and the general ilk of the position’s responsibilities, before strategizing.”

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Are smartphones and tablets turning us into sissies?

One answer turns very specifically on that word choice: “consumers.” Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, observed in a recent interview on the Australian radio show “Future Tense” that Wikipedia participants who transition to tablet devices seem to contribute less as a result, because those devices “are better for watching videos and surfing the internet than for typing text.”

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Will Budget Cuts = Isolationism?

The forced budget cuts, known in Washington as sequestration, are now in force in the United States and $85 billion in spending cuts are in the process of being implemented, with about half of them coming out of Washington’s spending on international engagement. The impact on America’s capacity for global leadership will not be felt overnight. But these reductions in defense spending, anti-terrorism activities, foreign aid and the budget for the State Department will shrink the U.S. footprint around the world, with consequences for the projection of both U.S. hard and soft power.

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Mass. police dog digging in snowbank fires gun

Police say a dog searching for a gun in a snowbank accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw, firing the weapon.
No humans —or dogs — were hurt.

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[This is going out late; Internet problems in our office. That will teach me not to do these the night before.]

Everyday Idolatry: My God

So after the KKK dismissed they left armed to the teeth with shotguns and rope, to fight the civil rights movement that was “invading their Mississippi” and within a few days 3 civil rights workers were killed….In Jesus name.
It’s easy to see, looking back how far this group was from the heart of God, how they had made Jesus into a god of their own image. But I think we do this exact same thing all the time. At least I do.
I’ve noticed that Jesus tends to vote the same way I do. He’s never against a war that I’m for, and he’s rarely interested into calling me toward self-sacrifice or mercy to people different than me. That’s the Jesus that I am most comfortable with, and it’s most certainly an idol.

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RAWtools: AK47s into Farm Tools

Our Mennonite blacksmith friends, Mike and Fred, have been inspired by the “beat your swords into plows… and study war no more” vision of the prophets Micah and Isaiah. After 9/11 they heard that some of the metal from the twin towers was recycled and used for a warship. After hearing of that, they caught the vision for RAWtools, Inc.(turning “war” around and cultivating life instead of death) – check them out: www.rawtools.org

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The Problem with Arrogant Pastors & 5 Ways Not to Be One

However, sometimes to personally admit to our own arrogance, we need prodding. Why? Because we often become blind to our own faults.
The reason it is so dangerous, especially for those of us in ministry positions, is that it can become a cancer to our ministry. I could, and I guess you could as well, name dozens of pastors whose arrogance and pride led them to a very public, very shameful fall.
Arrogance stifles mission. It redirects the focus of our ministry to us instead of to a kingdom focus. And if left unchecked, our ministry will begin to exist for its purpose, not God’s purposes.

Leaders of Courageous Character: Why They’re Needed but Lacking– With Four Ways to Be One

True leadership demands character. In ministry, that character has to be courageous character. My experience is that it is not celebrated enough and, to be honest, is sometimes lacking in ministry.

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The Three Generosities of a Local Church

Just noodling around with this theory. I think there are three levels of generosity a local church can process through given the gospel’s dominion in the place and the leadership’s determination to be humble and not insecure.

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Being “Absolutely Right”

Which brings me back to the Sermon on the Mount. As stated earlier, the Lord’s primary theme from beginning to end was to address the condition of the heart, the basis of our faith and trust. The crux of the entire sermon is found in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” There is only one right response to this verse. In recognition of our inability to fulfill its mandate, we should be driven to our knees, proclaiming, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!”

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Bible quotes on Finnish toilet paper draw church protests

“People like to read small, happy messages while sitting on the toilet,” Christina von Trampe, a spokeswoman for Metsa Tissue, which produces the Lambi brand, told Reuters. “The vast majority of the feedback has been positive. Our intention was to spread love and joy, not religious messages.”

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Holy smokes! “Batman” nabs suspect for British police

Closed-circuit television footage showed a portly figure wearing an ill-fitting costume including gloves, cape and mask, bringing a 27-year-old man to a police station in Bradford in northern England.

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Heroic Man Builds Oreo Separator

After the hatchet blade is lowered to split the Oreo, a pair of mechanical arms are dispatched to collect the cookie halves, which are transferred to a router table where the creme is removed.

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Cops: Florida Man, 36, Assaulted Teen Relative With Taco Bell Burrito

Brown then allegedly threw the burrito “with force” at the victim, striking the boy in the face with the fast food item. While interviewing the teen, cops noted that he had “burrito cheese, sauce and meat all over his clothing and face.”

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TV show host faints while teaching importance of oxygen

A TV host had a scary moment when she fainted on air on a Croatian kid’s show, “School Hour.” The theme of the day: the importance of oxygen.

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Suspect ‘butt dials’ 911 during drug deal near police

An emergency dispatcher got the call just after midnight and heard what she thought was a drug deal, said officer Aaron Christopherson. The dispatcher tracked the phone’s GPS signal and it led officers to an alley about a block away from the police department.

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FAA investigates ‘Harlem Shake’ skit on Frontier flight

As for the FAA’s interest, the agency tells KUSA 9 News of Denver it’s concerned about whether the plane was at a safe altitude for passengers to be out of their seats and moving about the cabin.

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Lionheart’s heart smelled sweet for heaven, scientists find

The heart of the Lionheart was embalmed with daisy, myrtle, mint and frankincense, kept sweet-smelling in saintly fashion in hope of speeding King Richard of England’s ascent to heaven.

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