LDS

Beth on Baloney in Isaiah

Get Out of that Pit (Nashville:  Integrity Publishers, 2007) by Beth Moore

On Isaiah 30, Beth writes, “Israel didn’t need Egypt.  She needed God.  At his best, man can make a mighty fine man, but he’s a useless god.  Contrary to the serpent’s suggestion in the Garden, people simply can’t be divine.  The higher the expectation we have for them, the further they’re going to fall.  (And somehow, when it’s all over we feel disgraced.  Embarrassed.  Sometimes we don’t even know why.) 

People can help us but they can’t heal us.  People can lift us but they can’t carry us.  On occasion people can pull us out of a pit, but they cannot keep us out.  Nor can they set our feet upon a rock.  When we come out of a pit, if our idea of stability is standing on another human’s shoulders, his clay feet will inevitably crumble and we’ll take a tumble.  The job’s too big for him.

Since pit-dwelling is primarily a state of mind, effective deliverance also takes the ability to read people’s minds, because what we say often doesn’t match where we are.  Only God can hang with us through the length and depth of our need.  And the length and depth of our baloney.  Maybe I’m just talking about myself, but whether or not I realized it, I usually found a way to frame my pit to make me look like a victim.  Not only is God omniscient, His Word is “sharper than any double-edged sword” cutting our baloney so thin He can see straight through it.  He knows when we’re kidding others.  He knows when we’re kidding ourselves.  Knowing all we are, all we feel, and all we hide, God overflows with love and willingness to deliver us.  Even after Israel sought the help of the Egyptians, inviting the chastisement of God, Isaiah 30 testified, “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; / he rises to show you compassion” (v. 18). (95-96).

Rather than blogging baloney, we “can opt for God.”

Mormon & Evangelical Co-belligerence

Check out page 17 of Time magazine (May 28, 2007)

“co-belligerent”

DEFINITION \ko-beh-lij-er-int\ n:  Unlikely bedfellows joined for political purposes

CONTEXT  Parliamentarian William Wilberforce employed the term in 19th century England to describe his abolitionist allies.  The Allies became co-belligerents with former enemies in the later stages of WW II.

USAGE  It’s a hit with Evangelicals.  Megachurch pastor Rick Warren claims he’s a co-belligerent with feminists on issues like pornography.  And it’s an emerging descriptor for the wary but genuine approval that Christian conservatives have given to Mitt Romney, below, despite their differences with Mormons.

The big news in Idaho Falls over Ink & Blood

Recently, I have been giving three to four tours a week at the Ink & Blood exhibit housed in the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls.  The groups have been diverse:  church groups, youth groups, Sunday School classes, home Bible studies, motorcycle clubs, and individual families, etc.

Two weeks ago, I enjoyed meeting Don Landis, chairman of the board of directors for the Answers in Genesis ministry.  Yesterday, I was privileged to meet Clifford Brady, successful and vibrant founder of Brady’s Inc. in Idaho Falls.  Whatever group I take through Ink & Blood, the experience is sheer joy.  Why?  Because I am surrounded by Scripture in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, and English.  It is a pastor’s paradise. 

Sunday’s announcement in the local paper, the Post Register, thrilled me – ” ‘Ink and Blood’ exhibit will stay through Labor Day”.  I thank the curator, Dr. William Noah.  I thank Executive Director David Pennock and program director Nick Gailey for the passion exerted in bringing this exhibit to Idaho in the first place.  Each one of them deserve a trip to Hawaii. 

Am I culturally and historically prejudiced?  Certainly.  And unashamedly, I will add.  I don’t recall any other artifacts in Idaho Falls topping the scales for religious magnitude.  But hold on to your seats, folks.  The Post Register reports, “The museum will be closed May 29 through 31 so the additional artifacts can be brought into the exhibit.”  What will this entail?  “The addition of 32 artifacts from the Qumran caves east of the Jerusalem”.  As Mr. Brady told me yesterday, “This is unbelievable!” (more…)

Mother’s Day in Rexburg, Idaho

After extended celebration in Ammon, Idaho, last night my family drove up to Rexburg and stepped inside the small, pine-wood church building of Grace Baptist Church in Rexburg.  Looking out the window from the auditorium, you can view the almost completed LDS temple up on the ridge.  When the open house is announced, I will attend.  It will be my first time ever walking inside an LDS temple. (more…)

Interpreting the Bible

Vagn H. Jensen of Ammon, Idaho wrote this recent letter to the editor of our local paper, The Post Register.

There have been several letters lately regarding science versus religion.  One even went so far as to say the Bible was wrong from the start.  Either he/she is atheist, took things out of context or did not read the whole Bible.

 

Second Peter 3:8 –“one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.”  One thousand days, 2.7 years times 1,000 years, and we now have 1 million years in the Lord’s, or celestial, time.  Multiply this by six or seven or more thousand years, and we now have several billion years.  Therefore, the Bible is right, as are the scientists who calculate things by carbon timing.

 

We do not know how long each creative period took, but surely it took more than one day each, as men measure time.  Creative is not a good word.  Even God can’t create anything out of nothing.  He can organize, reorganize or even change things into something else –as can a chemist – but that’s all.  Material was always there and always will be, even if in different substance. (more…)