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On the Origin of Respectability

In the beginning God created the heauen and the earth. And the earth was without forme and voide, and darkenesse was vpon the deepe, and the Spirit of God moued vpon ye waters. Then God saide, Let there be light: And there was light. And God sawe the light that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkenes. And God called the light, Day, and the darkenes, he called Night. So the euening and the morning were the first day. — Genesis 1.1-5 (Geneva) Or, to say it another way: בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵי תְהֹום וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל־פְּנֵי הַמָּֽיִם׃ וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי אֹור וַֽיְהִי־אֹֽור׃ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאֹור כִּי־טֹוב וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים בֵּין הָאֹור וּבֵין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים ׀ לָאֹור יֹום וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹקֶר יֹום אֶחָֽד׃ פ (WLC, but someone with real knowledge of Hebrew will have to tell me if this copied

Sgian Dubh

"The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God..." — Ephesians 6.17 If you have no objections, I am going to indulge in some speculative fiction. (If you do have objections, it will be here if you change your mind.) My eschatological beliefs are pretty much the most common view, where Jesus will come back at any moment for his people in what is commonly referred to as the "Rapture", followed by the rise of the Antichrist, the seven-year Tribulation period (you definitely do not want to be left behind at the Rapture — are you sure you're ready?), the triumphal Second Coming of Christ and his people and so on. But I will not defend or debate my position, I am just letting you know what I think the Bible teaches on the subject. So, this speculative fiction, which could be considered "science fiction", as it has future-based elements, involves those left behind to face the Tribulation and deal with the Antichrist. (If I have belie

Giving Good Service Part 2

"For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord." — Ephesians 5.8-10 ESV This article is a sequel of sorts to " Giving Good Service ", but this one is not about our employment. In that article, I discussed how followers of Jesus should be bringing him honor by remembering that he is the one we are ultimately working for and not just Mr. Greedyfingers that signs our paychecks. So, we should do our best in our jobs to bring glory to God. One additional note that may have belonged in that original article is that some Christians wear it on their sleeves , so to speak. They get showy and announce, "Hey, you're going to be glad you hired me, I'm a Christian!" , and then they proceed to do lousy work. In some cases, the employer begins to wonder if it is a bad idea to hire

Giving Good Service

Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ; not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men; knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is bound or free.  — Ephesians 6.5-8 World English Bible I do not want to write this. Not very much. But it is a teaching I have learned, and it is a conviction that the Lord has given me. "Why don't you want to write about this, Cowboy Bob?" Because I have to change my evil ways. Lemme 'splain, Loocy. Although this was written about slaves (and the next verses regarding masters), it also applies to employees and employers. Most people who were slaves did not exactly wish to be slaves. And most people I know do not wish to

Fundamentalist and Literalist

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Edited September 13, 2016  "Be a clone and kiss conviction good night. Cloneliness is next to Godliness. Right! . . . If you want to be one of his, gotta act like one of us!" — Steve Taylor, from "I Want to be a Clone" What is a Fundamentalist? If you ask around, you will probably receive several different kinds of answers. In the most basic sense, it is someone who believes in the fundamentals of the faith. In that way, most people who call themselves "Christian" are "Fundamentalists". One definition said, "Of or relating to or tending toward Fundamentalism". Thanks, that's very helpful, old son. I like this one : "Christian fundamentalism refers to a set of religious beliefs within the Protestant community which emphasizes strict adherence to Christian beliefs, including a belief in the literal truth of the Bible." I agree with that definition for the most part. As you p

You Should Know Part 2: Cult Busters

"And then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ'; or, 'Behold, He is there'; do not believe him; for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance." — Mark 13:21-23 NASB In the previous article , I was ranting that Christians need to know what and why we believe the way we do. 1 Peter 3.15 tells us to "be ready" to explain the hope that is within us. Learning our doctrines and the basics of our faith can be a bit of a daunting challenge. It takes time and perseverance, plus a great deal of reading and listening to good, solid, Bible-based teachings. One thing that made learning the basics of the faith more interesting for me was studying the cults as well as aberrant teachings. Again, I want to clarify that honest people disagree on certain nonessentials. We must walk in love as well as truth.

You Should Know

"I might believe in the Redeemer if His followers looked more Redeemed." — Fredrick Nietzsche "But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense [ apologia ] to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect — 1 Peter 3.15 (ESV)   I have a bit of a rant for you. Hopefully, it will motivate people. A few months ago on Stormbringer's Thunder, I wrote a piece about areas in which atheists are right about Christians. Not surprisingly, it drew no comments from either atheists or Christians. (My guess is that it took the wind out of the sails of the atheists, and that Christians were embarrassed.) I will probably rework it and present it here sometime. Still, I have to talk about two things tie into the quote at the top and what I just mentioned: Know what and why you believe. This is where the atheists are right, that too many Christians are ignorant of the Bible that