Where Pillar Meets Skid Row
By John Rothra | June 5, 2008
In high school I listened to secular hard rock acts, now known as the 80’s and 90’s metal hair bands. The students in my school, Jacksonville High in Jacksonville, Arkansas, typified the diversity of the early nineties (I was part of the class of 1992). During one special event for the seniors, the class put on a show in the auditorium where pictures were shown from throughout the years together. This pictorial walk down memory lane was set to music selected by the students, allowing them to express themselves in both images and sound. Two of the main songs chosen were Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” and Skid Row’s “Youth Gone Wild,” an interesting, if not eccentric combination; an R&B boy band united with hard rock. I enjoyed both, but favored Skid Row.
To this day, my musical choice is for the hard rock, though I do enjoy a wide variety, including country, contemporary, pop, and others. In some ways, you could say that guys never do grow up. But I digress.
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Topics: Music | 4 Comments »
God Cannot Do Anything Logically Contradictory, or Can He?
By John Rothra | May 12, 2008
A few months ago I had a conversation with a friend about God’s omnipotence. When the average person is asked to define ‘omnipotent’ or ‘all powerful,’ many say it means to be able to do anything. However, Scripture teaches that God cannot lie, change, or swear by any name greater than his own. Therefore, we both agreed that God’s omnipotence cannot mean that God can do anything possible.
I offered the perspective that God can do anything that is not logically contradictory, such as create a square circle. We both acknowledged that this popular understanding makes sense, but then he pointed out something that refutes this understanding. My friend mentioned that God does violate logic and reason in his very existence and actions. For example, God exists as a trinity, three persons in one God where each person is a seperate person but not different gods. The idea of a trinity is logically contradictory because it promotes the idea of a single being existing as three persons, yet only one being. Such an idea violates logic.
Another example is God’s omnipresence, which holds that God exists fully in more than one place. This idea teaches that a single being can be in more than one location at a time, yet not be divided. Again, another idea that violates logic.
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Topics: Theology | 1 Comment »
Great place for illustrations for sermons, Bible studies, or other teaching settings
By John Rothra | April 26, 2008
I don’t endorse just any site, but I will gladly endorse SermonSpice.com. They offer a wide variety of videos, background loops, and other multimedia resources for churches, small groups, and other teaching settings.
Many of you may have already known about this site and visit it regularly. Others may have known but forgotten about it. Still there are some who may not be aware of it. Either way, I want to let everyone know about this resource and encourage you to look through what it offers.
While not all the videos align with every nuance of my theology, this does not detract from the quality of the site and its content. However, when using a video, I encourage everyone to first ensure that what the video teaches aligns with the teaching of Scripture.
Topics: Devotional/Teaching, General | No Comments »
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