Art and the Bible

One of my favorite sites is the Art and the Bible site, which offers a Google Gadget to add to your website. I'm adding it to my blog today. Now you can check here for your daily dose of bible art, from Michelangelo to Rembrandt to Van Gogh (and tons of others in between).

Mute Math

What do you get when you mix the best of 80's electro pop with The Police, add a hint of U2, and the energy of punk rock? Mute Math. I saw them last night at the Bijou theatre in Knoxville. Here's a taste...

Gay Religion: news of religion and GLBT folks

"Now that scientific evidence is mounting that human sexual orientation may be fixed by genetic and biological factors some Baptists want to change this by arguing that even if homosexuality is caused by genitics it is still a sin. I Kid You Not. No doubt they would say the same if genetic engineering would allow everone to be born white. And a male . . . "

(A terrible response to Mohler's "born gay" article, but probably anecdotal of the general attitude of those outside orthodox Christianity.)

Follow up to below "Born Gay" post

Here's a terrible rejoinder to Mohler's article. It begins,

Now that scientific evidence is mounting that human sexual orientation may be fixed by genetic and biological factors some Baptists want to change this by arguing that even if homosexuality is caused by genitics it is still a sin. I Kid You Not. No doubt they would say the same if genetic engineering would allow everone to be born white. And a male . . .

(italics mine)

Is Your Baby Gay? What If You Could Know? What If You Could Do Something About It?

A buddy of mine tipped me off to this convtroversial blog post from Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

In my opinion, it is a thoughtful entry, based on the, as of now, hypothetical scientific discovery of a genetic predisposition for homosexuality. I have to agree with Mohler, it should be of no shock to discover that our brains became subject to the all-pervasive power of sin along with the rest of our faculties at the Fall.

A Boring Box of Bones

On Jim Wallis' blog Scot McKnight has posted a response to the "The Jesus Family Tomb" story.

Little Brother

In a previous post I mentioned the book Irresistible Revolution by Shane Clairborne. The book is dangerously life-changing. It got me back on the path of true religion; you know, caring for the fatherless, the widow, the poor, etc. As I prayed about what to do, I got confused about how to manage such a call with my call as a husband and father. Finally, I took a trip to Lonsdale Elementary with Kathy Smith, the Director of Compassion Ministries at my church, and soon joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

Above is a picture of Christian, my new "little". He's in third grade and has a passion for a couple of things that make us a good match: Motorcycles and Skateboards! He also plays a mean game of Connect 4 (which he beat me at 4 out of 5 times today).

I know you don't have the time. Nobody does except God. But we are to be His hands and feet, incarnating Him wherever we go, and wherever we know He would be.

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

(Deuteronomy 10.18)

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

(Psalm 68.5)

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice,correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

(Isaiah 1.17)

Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.

(Zechariah 7.9)

New Hymn

O CHRIST THE SAME, THROUGH ALL OUR STORY'S PAGES

Sing this to the tune of "Danny Boy". A very sweet hymn.

Jesus' Family Tomb

Sunday night I went to the grocery store to pick up some food for, Brady, our cat. As I drove, I prayed that I might find something worth reading. I surveyed the newspaper rack and bought a Wall Street Journal because of an article on how piety among American youth is creating a new generation gap. After I got home (and fed the cat), I watched a program on Discovery about the lost tomb of Jesus. I thought the program was interesting, and raised enough questions to shake the faith of nominal believers, but it wasn't compelling to me mainly because it seemed too "Hollywood".

Anyway, I finally read the WSJ today. The pious youth article was good, but another article was better. It was Ben Witherington's response to the "Jesus Tomb." Below is not his WSJ article, but something even better - Witherington's blog entry on the subject. Take a look.

Ben Witherington: THE JESUS TOMB? ‘TITANIC’ TALPIOT TOMB THEORY SUNK FROM THE START

If you missed the program, here's the website: http://www.jesusfamilytomb.com/

West and Ben

Good article on Xn responsibillity re: downloading music

Bob Kauflin has a good post about the ethics of downloading music. Check it out:
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