Just because it says it, does not mean do it
By John Rothra | September 30, 2008
One Way: Jesus is the only way to heaven
These words opened a report I did on the Jesus Revolution (also called the Jesus Movement). One of the leaders of that movement, Tony Alamo, seems to be fixed in some of the aspects of that era, especially the moral decline. According to the Associated Press, Alamo was recently arrested outside the Federal Court in Flagstaff, Arizona “on charges [that] he took minors across state lines for sexual purposes.” Alamo has also been convicted of tax evasion, revealing a history of legal and moral questions regarding the evangelist.
However, the most shocking aspect of the article is that Alamo declared, “I believe it’s OK” for girls to marry at fourteen or fifteen years old and that sex with minors is not only permissible, but that the Bible mandates they marry young.
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Topics: Evangelism, Theology | No Comments »
Buffalo Bills 4-0 for first time in 16 years
By John Rothra | September 30, 2008
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Buffalo Bills fan. Yes, they lost four Super Bowls in a row, but no other team was even able to make three in a row. True, they have not been the strongest of teams in recent years. However, through all that, I remain a fan!
The last time they went 4-0 was in the 1992 season, when they went to their third Super Bowl, and their first against the Dallas Cowboys. The next year the two played each other again, the first time (and only time still) when two teams played each other in back-to-back Super Bowls.
This year looks like it could be the Bills and Cowboys facing each other for a third time in the Super Bowl. However, I hope that history doesn’t repeat itself: the last time the Bills went 4-0 was also the second largest margin of victory in Super Bowl history. However, this NFL season has been strange so far, with the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills atop the NFL as the only teams at 4-0. What a year!
Topics: Devotional/Teaching | No Comments »
Corrosion of Conformity: Where Tolerance Meets Evangelism
By John Rothra | August 23, 2008
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that Congress shall not establish a religion nor prohibit the free practice of religion, whatever that religion may be. It also prevents Congress from prohibiting speech (which the courts have expanded to include freedom of expression), meaning you can express your views without fear of being punished or otherwise stopped by the goverment. However, courts have recognized that the freedoms of religion and speech have limits: they cannot subvert the freedoms of another individual. While a person is free to worship a tree stump, one cannot break into another person’s back yard to worship the foliage.
Recent decades have witnessed the rise of postmodernism and, especially, the concepts of tolerance and relativism. Postmodernism, put simply, is the term used to describe the philosophy that there is no such thing as absolute truth that dictates all other truths (called a meta-narrative). Relativism is the concept that everything is ‘relative’: what may be true and good for one person may not be true or good for another. Furthermore, each individual truth is just as valid and acceptable as all others. Put simply, truth is in the eye of the beholder. Tolerance, as expressed by popular culture, finds its foundation in relativism: all beliefs should be respected and accepted as valid beliefs since none are superior. Along with this, tolerance is often described as meaning that no person has the right to try to persuade another to change their beliefs, for such is forcing one’s beliefs on another and is the epitome of intolerance.
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Topics: Devotional/Teaching, Evangelism | 1 Comment »
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