Lost Believers

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believer, Bible Belt, christian, christianity, devil, gospel, John, John 8, lost, religion, sin

It’s possible that one or two of you may be reading this because you think it’s about a certain television program.  It’s not; it’s about something much more disturbing (and real).

I’ve been studying John’s gospel in my Sunday School class.  One thing has become increasingly obvious–it’s entirely possible to believe in Jesus and still be a child of the devil.  That’s actually been a recurring theme in John’s gospel.  For instance, in John 2:23-24, we read that “many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.  But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them”

Commentators see a deliberate play on words there.  Many believed in him, but he did not believe in them.  They trusted him, but he did not entrust himself to them.

This week I’m studying John 8, and the same idea is even more prominent.  In John 8:12-30, Jesus proclaimed that he was the light of the world, that he had been sent by his Father, and that he would be lifted up (a veiled reference to his death and resurrection).  And “as he was saying these things, many believed in him” (v. 30).

What happened next is staggering.

But For You Who Fear My Name

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christian music, christianity, free, free MP3 download, Malachi, music, Sufjan Stevens, testimony, The Welcome Wagon, video

Malachi 4:2 will be part of my pastor’s sermon text next Sunday:

But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

It’s also the title of a song by The Welcome Wagon, a band composed of two friends of Sufjan Stevens–the Reverend Thomas Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique.  In the first video below, Vito talks a little about his music, his life, and his conversion.  In the second, you can listen to the full song I mentioned based on Malachi 4:2.

Below the videos are links to a free music download and more information about The Welcome Wagon.

What are your 10 all-time favorite movies?

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A Christmas Carol, Chariots of Fire, entertainment, film, glory, Lord of the Rings, movies, Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Princess Bride, top 10

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty serious minded (okay…  I’m very serious minded).  Among other things, that means I’m not too interested in most types of entertainment.  My wife says I’m no fun, and she’s probably right (okay…  she is right).

So, having just completed several weeks of long, hard hours at work (and with another difficult week and a half looming), I thought I would lighten things up a little with this post.   I hope you’ll stay with me to the end—I want to ask you a couple of questions.

Below are my 10 all-time favorite movies, in no particular order—except for the first two.  One is my favorite drama, the other my favorite comedy.  Bear in mind that I don’t watch a lot of movies, so this list could theoretically change if I were, say, to go on a movie watching binge for some odd reason, or (more feasibly) have a series of Hibernation Days with my wife.

Narrowing my list down to 10 wasn’t easy, though, even with the limited number of movies I’ve seen.  In fact, if I thought about this a little more I might come up with a slightly different list.  Also, I don’t normally watch movies more than once.  If I did, that might affect my list as well.  But with all of those caveats in place, here

Shred Guitar

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60s, christian, christian music, entertainment, guitar, music, Resurrection Band, shredding, video, youtube

This post is a little off-the-wall for me.  I normally either blog about my family or some aspect of following Christ.  Less frequently I write about something that just interests me personally.  This post falls into that category.  It’s about shred guitar.

My wife thinks it’s rather bizarre that I’m a relatively quiet, conservative person, and at the same time really like head-banging music.  What can I say?  I grew up in the 60′s.  (That probably explains some of my other bizarre traits as well.)  For the most part, though, I restrict my listening to Christian headbangers, since their popular counterparts can get pretty crude and, to me at least, inappropriate to listen to as a Christian.

Being keenly aware of that last point, I offer the following video with a word of caution. 

What Part of the Gospel Is Optional?

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christian, christianity, David Platt, discipleship, gospel, radical, the gospel, video

When I’m working long hours, I don’t have much time to write.  Even under normal circumstances, I’m not a very efficient writer.  I’m pretty sure it takes me longer than it does most people to figure out first, what I want to say and then, how to say it.

So, instead of writing, I try to find a few brief, thought-provoking items to post.  I find the question in the title of this video penetrating; I’d love to hear your response to the video clip in the comments.  It reminds me of a question I asked a few weeks ago which led to a series of posts on discipleship:  How much like Jesus are we?

An atheist… now a lover of Christ

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atheist, christian, christianity, evangelism, salvation, testimony, video

I enjoyed this testimony, and found it relevant to a couple of recent posts here—one about ex-atheist Demian Farnworth, and one by him that drew a response in the comments from an atheist.

I don’t have much time (or energy) for the blog right now, but I hope you find this testimony encouraging.  I also appreciate the apparent passion this brother has for proclaiming Christ right out in the streets.