The book that started it all (or at least the modern missions movement): An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens in which the Religious State of the Different Nations of the World, the Success of Former Undertakings, and the Practicability of Further Undertakings, are Considered.
Rocky Twyman has a radical solution for surging gasoline prices: prayer.
Twyman - a community organizer, church choir director and public relations consultant from the Washington, D.C., suburbs - staged a pray-in at a San Francisco Chevron station on Friday, asking God for cheaper gas. He did the same thing in the nation's Capitol on Wednesday, with volunteers from a soup kitchen joining in. Today he will lead members of an Oakland church in prayer.SF Chronicle
Dowd makes some very interesting claims in his article. Here are a couple:
...It is obvious to me now that God didn’t stop revealing truth vital to human wellbeing back when people believed the world was flat and religious insights were recorded on animal skins. God is still communicating faithfully today, publicly, through the worldwide, self-correcting scientific enterprise. I now see science as revelatory and facts as God’s native tongue.
...No longer do I fear that my family and friends will suffer for eternity in the fires of an otherworldly hell. No longer am I led astray by my instincts—my unchosen nature. And no longer do I find it difficult to live in integrity and know the peace that passes all understanding.
I found it interesting that Dowd thought the reason behind the Christian aversion to evolution was a moral one. ("it would seduce me away from godly living" --I'm not sure I see the logic in that, but that's what he said... or was told) I don't think that is the main problem that Christianity has with evolution.
Dowd (and most others who claim to accept both Christianity and Evolution) is missing an important point: if Darwinian Evolution is true, the Bible is not, so we can know nothing about Jesus with any degree of certainty, therefore Christianity is truly as baseless as its opponents claim.
Here's what I mean: In Mark 10:6-7 Jesus directly references Genesis 1:27 and 2:24, and it is easily inferred that he believed that humans existed from the beginning of the world. Jesus believed in a young Earth, and even if one may argue that he didn't, Jesus certainly never tried to correct the "false teachings" from the opening chapters of Genesis.
If the world was created through evolution (either Darwinian or Theistic), the Christian is faced with one of two major problems: 1. Jesus was either mistaken or a liar, or 2. The Bible did not correctly record his statements. If option 1 is true, then Jesus certainly was not the Son of God, as how could Deity who was supposedly present at Creation (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16) be mistaken about how the creation occurred?
If option 2 is true, then we can know nothing about Jesus with any degree of certainty. For instance, if this account in the Bible is wrong, how can we know that the account of the resurrection isn't wrong as well?
Everything that Christianity has to offer hinges on the Bible's veracity. If it is inaccurate, then it is not even good enough to be called a good 'spiritual' book, or even a piece of literature (as it would then be fiction that tries to present itself as truth).
As convenient as it may be to try to find a way to reconcile the two, evolution and Christianity are incompatible.
Chuck Colson has a great article about the results of the "misanthropic [use that word sometime this week!] worldview of the environmental movement."
He writes about an online game for kids that shows them how much their lifestyle impacts the environment. However, it shows how long you should have lived according to the rate at which you consume environmental resources. If you exceed the amount allowed, it shows you the age that "you should die at."
Is it worth killing humans if it means saving the planet? If you follow a naturalistic worldview to its logical conclusion, yes. And this game subtly shows us this.
"Dear Wormwood, ...On the outside he appears to many people to be the perfect guy, someone people of all ages admire, respect, and trust. However, sometimes his own hypocrisy defeats him on the inside as he struggles with God working effectively through his gifts but seemingly inactive with the areas in which he desperately needs God’s transformation..."[Tim Schmoyer]
Tim's got some good thoughts on sin, guilt and distraction à laThe Screwtape Letters.
"Whether you're an action/sci-fi movie fan or not, if you find yourself in the midst of conversation about The Incredible Hulk, try using the conversation to talk about stress - how you deal with it and how your personal relationship with Jesus impacts you when stressful times smash into your world and threaten to turn you into your own raging version of The Hulk." [Christian Post]
Now, don't get me wrong, but I don't remember any place in the Bible that talks about Jesus dying for our stress. Sure, He's the Prince of Peace, but it doesn't seem to me that Paul, for instance, had a low-stress life. Remember all that stuff about being beaten and stoned and shipwrecked and hungry and cold and naked? Should we include that in our Gospel presentation?
You've Been Left Behind Apparently people can find a way to cash in on anything Christian, even the Second Coming. Simply put, this website will send an email to all of your friends should the rapture occur. You can contact up to 62 email addresses, write a personalized message, and even leave documents for your un-raptured friends... all for the low cost of $40/year.
So, what happens if you are a Postmillenialist? Wouldn't it be too late for them then?
The purpose of Louder Than Jesus Fish is to challenge Christians to Encounter God, Express His love, and Engage the World through Bible study, discussion, and some silly links.
This Blog's title reminds us that nobody- neither God, nor any person- cares about car emblems, bumper stickers or t-shirts. The only thing that counts in this life is action.
