Twilight and New Moon: Evil Abounds!

I am not a legalist. I have no problem going to movies, watching TV, etc as long as wisdom is used. However, we live in a world that is fascinated with evil. A few years back witches and witchcraft were all the rage. Everyone, including quite a few Christians, seemed to be into Harry Potter. Even though the Bible clearly speaks against witchcraft many soaked it up like baby pablum!

Now we have Twilight, New Moon and a fascination with evil. Vampires and werewolves are all the rage. Last night I saw over 100 teens lined up outside the theater waiting for the doors to open so they could flock to see New Moon.

Half the believers I talk seem to have no problem with this film even though it clearly is something Jesus would not endorse. Philippians 4:8 comes to mind!

I keep hearing about Team Jacob and Team Edward and I wish that Christians would start rallying around Team Jesus!

Let your eyes look straight ahead and your sight be focused in front of you. Carefully walk a straight path, and all your ways will be secure. Do not lean to the right or to the left. Walk away from evil. (Proverbs 4:25-27)

Habakkuk 1:13 says, "Your eyes are too pure to look at evil. You can't watch wickedness. Why do you keep watching treacherous people?"

Don't despise what God has revealed. Instead, test everything. Hold on to what is good. Keep away from every kind of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22)

I have heard people say this is a romance story. Really? Do you really think Jesus would endorse dating a vampire? A werewolf?

Give your head a shake and open the Word of God.

Real Love Has to Stretch

Some of you, those of a certain age who also grew up in N. America, may remember Stretch Armstrong. This was a toy in the 70's. The toy was of a muscular man whose arms and legs could be stretched long distances. I was thinking about this toy recently when reviewing this Scripture on love: "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn't jealous. It doesn't sing its own praises. It isn't arrogant. It isn't rude. It doesn't think about itself. It isn't irritable. It doesn't keep track of wrongs. It isn't happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth. Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up. Love never comes to an end. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)

So this verse got me to thinking about real love. When I read this description of love I realized one thing. Real love has to stretch. You can say you love someone but if you are not willing to stretch with them, it's not love. A stretching love is patient when the other person irritates us. It is kind to our enemies, walks with our friends and holds no account of rights and wrongs.

Ask any married couple of 50+ years and they will tell you they had to choose to love. They had to stretch.

Jesus did as well. When He loved us enough to stretch out His arms and die how can we love those around us any less?

Spark plugs and Faith!

I was thinking about my childhood recently and remembered that I was about 11 when it happened.

My 10 year old brother and I were out mowing the lawn and could not keep the lawnmower going. Every time we would start to push the machine the thing would die on us. My Dad was at work and so my brother and I decided we would try to solve the problem.

We looked high and low and fiddled with the mower for a bit to no avail. Finally I glanced down and noticed the spark plug and that the little attachment was off. I put the metal ring back on the plug and we started the mower for a few seconds before it popped off again and the mower died.

I came up with the, ahem, ingenious idea of holding the wire onto the spark plug while my brother started the lawnmower. Now, in my defense, I was not to mechanically inclined back then. So as I was hlding the spark plug my brother gave the string a pull and I was knocked on my backside by the electrical current! Not keying in on what happened I repeated the experiment again......and again.......and again.

Finally the light dawned and I realized what I was doing wrong. So I gave up and waited for my Dad to get home.

Same thing happens in my faith walk. I try to fix things on my own and make them worse. Sometimes I have to get knocked onto my backside a few times before I realize I am trying to do things in my own strength. I then have to willingly let the Father handle it.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5)

5 Questions with Fred von Kamecke

Welcome to 5 Questions With.....

Today's Guests is Fred von Kamecke. Fred is an assistant pastor at The Chapel of Lake County, Illinois. He served as assistant professor at North Park Seminary as well as adjunct professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he received his PhD (New Testament) He is the author of Busted which is published by Zondervan.

And now without further delay, on to the questions:

Hi Fred,

Question 1: What one word would describe your current relationship with God?

Growing.

Question 2: Your book, Busted, tackles the myths surrounding Christianity. Where did the idea for the book come from?

The idea came while I was watching Mythbusters. I recalled someone mentioning that you can't trust the Bible since it's been translated so many times (which wound up being chapter 2). I literally got up and started typing that very moment.

Question 3: Was there a particularly hard myth to tackle?

Two chapters wound up being very difficult to write: 4, concerning science (since I'm not a scientist), and 5, since the topic of the canon is extremely complicated. They were the last chapters written.

Question 4: In your opinion, why are there so many myths surrounding Christianity?

There are many factors: competing religious claims, incomplete knowledge of the issues involved, a willingness to believe everything’s OK (there really is no intrusive God actually calling me to live differently), intentional deception, malevolent people and spiritual forces opposed to the truth, just to name a few.

Question 5: What do you hope people take away from your book?

My prayer is that Christians will be encouraged to seek out answers to the relentless attacks against the faith (and become better equipped), and that seekers of Christianity will find the Lord who inspires all truth. I also hope that all of the above will see that apologetics need not be mean and edgy to be effective.

Thanks you Fred for taking the time to answer these questions!

Thank you so much for your interest in Busted.

So there you go. I would HIGHLY recommend you go out and buy a copy of Busted today. For more info on this awesome book check out the Zondervan site today!

To see past 5 Question guests, check out the rotating interview links on the sidebar.

Busted

I have never been a huge fan of apologetics books. The material is usually over the head of the average Christian (and therefore useless IMHO) or comes off as very confrontational. I don't think you should need a PhD to understand the Gospel and how to answer the challenges people present against God and His Word!

Enter Busted by Fred Von Kamecke and published by Zondervan.

This book had me jumping for joy as it seeks to expose popular myths about Christianity! If you have ever seen an episode of Mythbusters you will love this book! The style is breezy, informative, enlightening and entertaining. I found myself taking notes and looking forward to the next time someone wanted to challenge my faith.

I cannot say enough about this book. It has qualified as one of my favorite books of 2009! As much reading as I do, 36+ books a year, that is saying a lot!

No longer do you need to feel intimidated by those who challenge your faith. You don't have to wade through a dissertation on dispensationalism. Pick up Busted, grab a cup of coffee, relax and prepare to find your own faith deepened!

Busted is published by Zondervan and available on their website or at your local Christian bookstore!

Lord I Believe, Help My Unbelief! - Just A Thought #39

I believe God still does miracles today. I have seen Him heal the sick instantaneously. I remember well when God INSTANTLY healed my Mom of multiple sclerosis.

I have also seen God meet financial needs, miraculously provide food, etc.

What happens to our faith though when God stays His hand? I have been battling and slowly recovering from a nasty chest cold for about a month. I have prayed for God to relieve my pain and sickness for weeks. I have had others praying for me. Yet in all of this the Lord did not heal me. I have been on steroids, antibiotics and more cough syrup than I care to remember. At one point the pain was so bad I literally was asking God to heal me or take me home!

In all of this I can say God is good! For whatever reason the Lord did not heal me instantly. He obviously had other plans. He also, and my wife appreciates this with a baby on the way, did not take me home at my worst point!

All of this has caused me to pray harder, dig into the Word and to seek Him with my whole heart. I find myself praying for others, seeking His will and sharing Him more!

So maybe God did heal me after all.....maybe He healed my faith which was not as strong as it could have been! I remember clearly praying Mark 9:24. My belief has been helped, strengthened and stretched.

Thank You Lord for answering prayer!