You don’t have to be doctrinally or morally soft to go soft, you just have to lack vigilance – give Satan a little room and he will be quick to take it from there.
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Posts on Proverbs — Summary
This is a summary (for the sidebar menu) of posts on Proverbs. Most are the “Proverb for Today” series, written on the day of month matching the chapter in which the Proverb appears. Others compare / contrast a quote with a verse from Proverbs. A few others deal with Proverbs generally or are significantly based on a particular verse in Proverbs.
In this summary page, they appear in chapter/verse order rather than the order in which they were written, to make it easier to find a post on a particular verse.
Posted in Blog Housekeeping
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A Tale of Two Williams
William Lennox Bathurst was the second son of Henry, third Earl of Bathurst. William Hiley Bathurst was a distant cousin of Henry, third Earl of Bathurst.
William Batty’s Bible
William Batty of Barwick-in-Elmet purchased his Bible in 1809. In his own handwriting are the birth records (date and time) of the children God gave William and his wife Elizabeth. He also recorded the date of the death of the children who died in infancy.
Also written on the fly-leaf is this poem, which may well have been his own composition:
Whene’er you read this ancient volume,
You’ll find God’s word in every column;
Examine well each sacred page,
You’ll find Instruction for every age;
When your Parents are laid in the Grave,
This is the best portion you can have;
If in this world you learn righteousness,
In the next you’ll find true happiness;
Improve well your time unto the end,
And God will be your greatest friend.
II Timothy 3:16-17
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Related: A Tale of Two Williams (the story of William Batty’s minister).
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“What is the Use of Repining?”
This song is a little humanistic in its approach. There’s not always a way to do what you want to do, no matter how much will you may have. 🙂 But the general thrust of the song (which appears at the end of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter) is very valuable for Christians. We should not be easily stopped, and we certainly shouldn’t spend all our time “sitting and sighing” and forgetting to be grateful for what we have.
Posted in Daily Christianity
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The Bible and Capital Punishment — Summary
This is a summary (for the sidebar menu ) of a series of posts on Scriptural teaching related to the death penalty.
Detailed Series
The Death Penalty — A Biblical Command — Capital punishment is commanded throughout Scripture, not merely in the Old Testament. Some people find this surprising, but it even makes an appearance in the teachings of Jesus.
Did Jesus Abolish the Death Penalty in John 8? — This is the story of the woman taken in adultery. Contrary to popular opinion, Jesus was NOT abolishing the death penalty when He told them that the one who was sinless should cast the first stone. He was affirming the Old Testament teaching on the death penalty, telling them that to execute her they needed to do so according to the Law, which specified who would cast the first stone.
Loosely related: “I Wasn’t Planning an Execution by Stoning” — answering another wrong application of this account in John 8.
Did Jesus Abolish the Death Penalty in the Sermon on the Mount? — Jesus was not telling governments how to deal with capital crimes, He was telling people to be less concerned with their own rights, less quick to take offence and take revenge. This teaching has nothing to do with the death penalty.
The Death Penalty — God Requires it to be Just — God commanded the death penalty, but He did not endorse a casual attitude towards it. He established stringent safeguards to protect against miscarriages of justice. Some of the worst miscarriages of justice which Britain has seen have come because British law did not reflect those some safeguards.
The Death Penalty — Civic Purposes — The Bible lists at least six ways in which a society benefits by the proper administration of capital punishment.
The Death Penalty — Redemptive Purpose — Capital punishment illustrates the ultimate death penalty — the wages of sin is death. It helps to teach a society the seriousness and drastic consequences of sin, instilling in hearts a fear of justice, and preparing people to recognise their need of a Saviour.
Why Christians Often Don’t Like the Death Penalty — We aren’t supposed to like the death penalty. God doesn’t like it, either. It is a necessary response to evil, but God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
Other Posts Addressing Capital Punishment
Three More Boston Thoughts — A death penalty opponent reconsiders his view when he encounters victims. Compassion should be towards the victims first, and a judicial system should not show compassion to a killer at the expense of the victims.
Super-Prison Coming — a justice system that has abandoned capital punishment is failing badly.
Rape, Abortion, and Justice — the Bible calls for the death penalty for the rapist — but not for an unborn child, even if the child’s father was a rapist.
Punishment, Barbarism, the god of This World, and the Gospel —
Less Than 100 Days — Even the Norwegian mass murderer understands justice better than European governments.
Posted in Blog Housekeeping
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“Christians Aren’t Smart”? I’m Not Offended
So, probably most of my readers have heard about this. Some study supposedly found that people with a higher IQ are less likely to be religious. The obvious take-away for the atheists is that they are smarter, and that is why they aren’t religious.
Most extant explanations (of a negative relation) share one central theme – the premise that religious beliefs are irrational, not anchored in science, not testable and, therefore, unappealing to intelligent people who ‘know better.’
Mind Renewers 