Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, keeps pushing back the boundaries of its claimed evangelical stance. In an article in the July 1, 2006, edition of "World," Joel Belz reports that the seminary claims that homosexuality is a sin in one breath and bends over backward to accommodate it in the next. In a class on "Gender and Sexuality" taught by the husband-and-wife team of Jack and Judith Balswick, practicing sodomites are invited to lecture. One recent such lecturer "derided heterosexualism as a social contract rather than a historical or biblical norm." In the Balswicks' book, "Authentic Human Sexuality," they state: "We acknowledge that some gay Christians may choose to commit themselves to a lifelong, monogamous homosexual union, believing this is God's best for them." They seem to have forgotten that Paul wrote the Corinthians (1Corinthians 6:9-11) and said of those who had been "effeminate" or "abusers of themselves with mankind" (phrases referring to homosexuals), "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Evidently, salvation puts such practices in the past tense. He does not say that they could never fall into the old sins, but he does say that salvation lifts them out of these categories. A sodomite who is comfortable in his or her sodomy is certainly not a Christian.
The Lord is clearly interested in beauty. Some form of the word is used 76 times in the Bible. We are told that God "hath made every thing beautiful in his time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He so highly exalts the proper concept of beauty that He often associates it with holiness (Psalm 29:2; 96:9; 110:3). Unfortunately, men tend to pervert beauty as they do all that they touch. God reminds us that outward "beauty is vain" (Proverbs 31:30) and human "beauty is a fading flower' (Isaiah 28:1). Men corrupt beauty and make the "beauty of a man" a focus for idolatry (Isaiah 44:13). Eventually, man's perverseness causes his "beauty to be abhorred" (Ezekiel 16:25). The very concept of what is beautiful is no longer recognizable.
Today's how-to, from www.wikihow.com provides in-depth information about a creative way to obtain stuff without spending any money. Are you interested? It is called "dumpster diving". No, I'm not kidding. Here are some tips and warnings for those of you who are chomping at the bit to take your first dive.
Note: What follows is an introduction I just wrote to a lesson on Mark 6:1-26 entitled "Changes in the Ministry of Christ." I thought it might be an encouragement to someone who is presently going through some great changes.
Alfred Edersheim wrote a major life of Christ called "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah." Edersheim's Jewish heritage gave him interesting insights into many of the beliefs and ways of life during the time of Christ. In his book (Vol.11, p.12), he wrote of the Jewish traditions concerning the defilement of hands and the accusation that Jesus did not keep these traditions (as recorded in Mark 7:1-9).
About two weeks ago (I cannot find the exact date), a construction worker was digging up a peat bog somewhere in Ireland for the purpose of creating commercial potting soil when he saw something in the bog. That something turned out to be an ancient selection of psalms in Latin that has been dated to around 800AD-1000AD. The discovery has been called a miracle find because of the unlikely chance that it would be preserved in a peat bog and the equally unlikely chance that it would be discovered.
The following is an excerpt from Soldiers in Training by Brother Daryl Coats.
