What makes a Christian education Christian?

I had this rather interesting question posed to me during one of my required discussion forums for my online seminary classes at Liberty University. Here was my response:

To sum up, the purpose of Christian education is basically to produce, both individually and collectively, better followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. I agree with one of the previous posters that "what makes education Christian" really does, indeed, lie in ensuring that Christ is the key ingredient.

Of course, one can be "educated" in a variety of areas, and just to be does not necessarily make the education Christian. One example is that I can be educated constantly that we are all just the product of billions of years of random chemical reactions, but that education would be secular and, I believe, untrue. Thus, for education to be Christian, it must have the right content.

Christian education, for it to be Christian, must be, as mentioned in lengthier terms above, Christ-centered. It also must be Bible-based, and it should uphold the Judeo-Christian ideals and promote the sacrificial death of our Savior on the Cross and help believers to have a continued walk with Him and point those who are yet to believe to Him as well. It should also, in my humble opinion, uphold the virtues of Christian service as well. We would all do well to remember that the "Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28) In that regard, a true Christian education will always strive to produce individuals who wish to imitate Christ, the supreme example for us all.

We Could Learn a Lot From....

Tite Sufra and Stephen Ocean
-----------------------------

Tite Sufra and Stephen Ocean were two individuals who, on the seemingly ordinary day of February 7, 2010 were gunned down in Boynton Beach, Florida. Unfortunately, this murder wasn't the result of random gun violence or a drug deal gone bad, but was the result of the fact that these two were sharing the Gospel with the individual who ended up shooting them. Jeriah Woody, who was the recipient of the witnessing, shot and killed the two men for doing so. Praise be to God that we have individuals who are willing to share the Gospel and if you who stumble upon this blog happens to be Christian please pray for the individual who killed these two men.

One Example of Medical Evangelism...

Is a Hospital officially called the Karolyn Kempton Memorial Hospital in the country of Togo. This much-needed hospital was born in 1985 in an populated area of Togo where no adequate medical care existed. Besides providing the important humanitarian work of providing an economically-depressed area such as Togo with top notch medical care, this hospital also provides a ministry by providing an open door for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the compassionate medical care they provide. On any given week they might treat the following ailments: congestive heart failure, Malaria, Typhoid fever, Anemia, and various infections. It is a fully-staffed missionary hospital, and is doing an excellent work. More information can be found at http://abwetogo.homestead.com/files/hbb.htm

The Real St. Patrick

The real St. Patrick was indeed the Patron Saint of Ireland. Born in either a Scottish or English family in the 4th Century A.D., he had a rather inauspicious beginning to his life. Early on he was captured by a man named Niall of the Nine Hostages and was sold into slavery in Ireland. He became a devout Christian for comfort while working in these awful conditions, and one day he had a dream that encouraged him to flee his captivity. There would, if he traveled on foot to a town called Wexford, be a ship waiting for him if he left is what the dream told him. He awoke, following the dream to the letter, and sure enough there was a ship.

After arriving in England, he was once again captured and sold into slavery. Escaping two months later, he spent the next seven years of his life roaming England seeking his destiny. During this time he furthered his education and studied Christianity in the Lerin Monastery in France.

During this time he also had another dream which encouraged him to go back to Ireland to minister to the people there. He would not, however, go back immediately and was eventually made a Bishop by Pope Celestine in 432. After this, he finally was able to lead a delegation back to his native Ireland.

The webpage http://www.chiff.com/a/st-patrick.htm explains the ensuing events well:

Patrick confronted the most powerful man in Ireland Laoghaire, The High King of Tara as he knew that if he could gain his support that he would be safe to spread the word throughout Ireland.

To get his attention Patrick and his followers lit a huge fire to mark the commencement of Spring. Tradition had it that no fire was to be lit until the Kings fire was complete, but Patrick defied this rule and courted the confrontation with the King. The King rushed into action and travelled with the intention of making war on the holy delegation. Patrick calmed the King and with quiet composure impressed the King that he had no other intention than that of spreading the word of the Gospel.

The King accepted the missionary, much to the dismay of the Druids who feared for their own power and position in the face of this new threat. They commanded that he make snow fall. Patrick declined to do so stating that this was Gods work. Immediately it began to snow, only stopping when Patrick blessed himself.

Still trying to convince the King of his religion, Patrick grasped at a shamrock growing on the ground. He explained that there was but one stem on the plant, but three branches of the leaf, representing the Belssed Trinity. The King was impressed with his sincerity and granted him permission to spread the word of his faith, although he did not convert to Christianity himself. Patrick and his followers were free to spread their faith throughout Ireland and did so to great effect. He drove paganism (symbolised by the snake) from the lands of Eireann.

Patrick died on March 17th in the year 461 at the age of 76. It is not known for sure where his remains were laid although Downpatrick in County Down in the North of Ireland is thought to be his final resting place. His influence is still felt to this day as Nations the world over commemorate him on March 17th of every year.

So it goes without saying that the real St. Patrick was a man of great faith! Happy St. Patrick's day to you all!

Jesus of the Scars

This interesting little poem was done by Edward Shillito shortly after the horrors of the first World War in 1918.

Jesus of the Scars

If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow,
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.


The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace.
If, when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know to-day what wounds are, have no fear,
Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign.
The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.

"Mr. Spammer, Jesus Loves You Too!"

Lately the comments section in this blog has been taken over by spammers. While I appreciate comments, I do not appreciate obvious spam. I will still allow anonymous people to post if they want, but every post will be moderated from here on out. With that being said, those who feel the need to post spam on things, whether they be a real human or a human who created a bot to do such things, are still a human being created in God's image regardless. Jesus died for every one of us, including druggies, prostitutes, ordinary people, spammers, scammers, gypsies, tramps, and thieves.

Kayleigh's Story

One of the blogs I've been looking at lately is all about a little girl named Kayleigh who was born three months premature. Now, I imagine that it would hard enough for any baby to get born, but imagine how much harder it would be if you were three months premature! This little girl is truly a miracle, and my thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family. For anyone who would be interested in this little baby girl the link is here: http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-01-14T13%3A48%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=5

Does God hate Haiti?

Pat Robertson, who is an evangelical commentator on a program called the 700 Club, recently made some very eye-raising comments about the recent earthquake in Haiti. If you haven't heard already, Pat Robertson feels that Haiti's current suffering is a result of "a pact that country made with the devil in 1791." I want to tell anyone who visits this blog, is a regular on this blog, or is just stumbling upon this blog as a result of a Google search that most Christians, including myself, very very vehemently disagree with Mr. Robertson's approach and comments. The answer to whether or not God hates the country of Haiti can very confidently be answered in an emphatic and adamant NO; the answer to whether or not God loves the country and people of Haiti can be responded to in an enthusiastic and empowering YES, indeed He does. Rev. Albert Mohler, who is a man much more eloquent than myself, recently posted an article on this subject that describes my feelings on Haiti to the letter:

Does God hate Haiti? That is the conclusion reached by many, who point to the earthquake as a sign of God's direct and observable judgment.

God's rule over creation involves both direct and indirect acts, but his rule is constant. The universe, even after the consequences of the Fall, still demonstrates the character of God in all its dimensions, objects, and occurrences. And yet, we have no right to claim that we know why a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti happened at just that place and at just that moment.

The arrogance of human presumption is a real and present danger. We can trace the effects of a drunk driver to a car accident, but we cannot trace the effects of voodoo to an earthquake -- at least not so directly. Will God judge Haiti for its spiritual darkness? Of course. Is the judgment of God something we can claim to understand in this sense -- in the present? No, we are not given that knowledge. Jesus himself warned his disciples against this kind of presumption.

Why did no earthquake shake Nazi Germany? Why did no tsunami swallow up the killing fields of Cambodia? Why did Hurricane Katrina destroy far more evangelical churches than casinos? Why do so many murderous dictators live to old age while many missionaries die young?

Does God hate Haiti? God hates sin, and will punish both individual sinners and nations. But that means that every individual and every nation will be found guilty when measured by the standard of God's perfect righteousness. God does hate sin, but if God merely hated Haiti, there would be no missionaries there; there would be no aid streaming to the nation; there would be no rescue efforts -- there would be no hope.

The earthquake in Haiti, like every other earthly disaster, reminds us that creation groans under the weight of sin and the judgment of God. This is true for every cell in our bodies, even as it is for the crust of the earth at every point on the globe. The entire cosmos awaits the revelation of the glory of the coming Lord. Creation cries out for the hope of the New Creation.

In other words, the earthquake reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only real message of hope. The cross of Christ declares that Jesus loves Haiti -- and the Haitian people are the objects of his love. Christ would have us show the Haitian nation his love, and share his Gospel. In the midst of this unspeakable tragedy, Christ would have us rush to aid the suffering people of Haiti, and rush to tell the Haitian people of his love, his cross, and salvation in his name alone.

Everything about the tragedy in Haiti points to our need for redemption. This tragedy may lead to a new openness to the Gospel among the Haitian people. That will be to the glory of God. In the meantime, Christ's people must do everything we can to alleviate the suffering, bind up the wounded, and comfort the grieving. If Christ's people are called to do this, how can we say that God hates Haiti?

If you have any doubts about this, take your Bible and turn to John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. That is God's message to Haiti.

The best thing that we as Christians can do for the country of Haiti is to prayer for the quickest recovery possible and for the relief efforts. We can pray that this tragedy will bring the Haitian people closer to Him. The one thing we should not do, however, is pretend to know the mind of God and say that this is His judgment on Haiti.

The fighter still remains...(Quote of the Week)

*Photo from Cinderella Man

Though it is a secular song, some of the lyrics from the Simon and Garfunkel song "The Boxer" are very profound. "In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade, and he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down and cut him until he cried out in his anger and his shame, I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains."

You see, the fighter never gave up, even though every obstacle that was thrown his way made him want to, for sure. Another interesting facet to this song is that the fighter hypothetically only had his own strength to rely on. We as Christians don't have to rely on our strength. We can and should "cast all of our cares on Him, for he cares for us." (I Peter 5:7, paraphrase). Praise be to God that we have a friend closer than a brother and that we can do that!

The Greatest Gift of All....

As we reflect on the holiday season that has just passed and the new year that is upon us, we would do well to remember what is really important during the holiday season and throughout the year as well. A dear friend of mine---actually my wife's grandmother---asked me a rather thought-provoking question: What was the FIRST Christmas gift? She said that a lot of people did not answer right, and interestingly enough, I stretched my mind trying to determine what the gifts of the three wise men were in order to answer her question. Finally, I said that I believed it to be the "gold, frankincense, and myrhh given by the wise men."

"That's a good answer," my wife's wise grandmother replied, "but not the correct one. The answer is that Jesus Himself was the first Christmas gift."

Wow! When one realizes the magnitude of that statement and the implications it is truly eye-opening and humbling. Three areas then become important:

1) The materialism and commercialization of Christmas becomes much less important to the believer.

After realizing that Jesus truly is the "Reason for the Season", so to speak, then everything secular becomes less important. What is important is thanking God for getting us through another year and most of all, thinking Him for Christ's sacrifice on the Cross at Calvary.

2) Doing good for others becomes more important to the believer.

Visiting shut-ins, helping the homeless, volunteering in a soup kitchen, stocking the food pantry, helping those who cannot the commercial aspect of Christmas, and helping ring the bell for the Salvation Army become more important for the believer as a ministry during the holiday season. The reason? It can and does expand the testimony of the believer to the Salvation that is in Jesus Christ. We must all bear in mind that we never what good things and good works we do for others might have eternal value, because as James states, "faith without works is dead." (James 2:17)

3) Letting your light shine becomes more important to the believer.

As Christians, we need to be people of peace, love, and joy. During the Christmas season and the rest of the new year, we must exhibit the fruits of the spirit in all that we say and do and pray for God to help us in these areas as well. To all who are reading this who are Christians, I pray God's blessings on you this new year and that He will use in a mighty way!

Merry Christmas (and an interesting article excerpt by Bayless Conley)

The holidays can be a depressing time of year for many people, even, surprisingly, for Christian people. Although Christmas for the Christian is a time of great rejoicing because of commemorating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, many individuals can get to the end of this year and feel like they have run a marathon and that they have had a "kick me" sign on their back all year long. Those feelings are nothing to be ashamed of and are not uncommon. I think an interesting excerpt by Christian devotional writer Bayless Conley can be useful to the Christian in dealing with the trials of our everyday world. He begins by talking about Jesus, and the article is presented now:

In Matthew 3, we find Jesus at an absolutely critical time of transition in His life. We have not heard from Him since He was 12 years old. There has been about 30 quiet, unnoticed years where He presumably was working in His father's carpentry shop.

That is when we read in Matthew 3:16-4:1,

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Jesus is about to enter public ministry. The sick will be healed; the poor will have the gospel preached to them; miracles will be worked; the Father will be revealed. So from this point, the battle is on. And we are given a bird's-eye view of the conflict that occurs between Christ and the devil, which we will look at in more detail in the next several devotionals.

But I want to submit something to you today. If it seems that all hell has broken loose in your life, maybe, just maybe, it's because you are on the verge of a breakthrough in your life. Maybe it's a time of very important transition where God wants to lift you into a place where there is going to be greater influence and greater impact through your life.

You see, at about this time last year I was coming to a very difficult crossroads in my life, and yes, I did feel like I had that "kick me" sign on my back. Without going into too much detail my previous chosen career was not working out and I was having a large degree of personal trouble as well. However, I found out in a strong way that God is faithful and He had other, more fulfilling plans for me. If you are a regular on this blog or just a visitor just passing through on the information superhighway, I pray that God will richly bless you this holiday...Merry Christmas to all!

Archaeological Evidence for the Bible Part 2 (New Testament)

Existence of Jesus:

*In Jewish historian Josephus' work the Antiquities, written about the same time as the Gospels, the following is mentioned:

About this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was the achiever of extraordinary deeds and was a teacher of those who accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. When he was indicted by the principal men among us and Pilate condemned him to be crucified, those who had come to love him originally did not cease to do so; for he appeared to them on the third day restored to life, as the prophets of the Deity had foretold these and countless other marvelous things about him, and the tribe of the Christians, so named after him, has not disappeared to this day." (Josephus—The Essential Works, P. L. Maier ed./trans.).

*Tacitus, a Roman historian, wrote the following: born 52 A.D., wrote a history of the reign of Nero in 110 A.D. "...Christus, from whom they got their name, had been executed by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate when Tiberias was emperor; and the pernicious superstition was checked for a short time only to break out afresh, not only in Judea, the home of the plague, but in Rome itself, .. " (Annals 15:44)

*Suetonius: AD. 120. In his Life of Claudius: "As the Jews were making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome."

*Pliny the Younger: Governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor, wrote the emperor in A.D. 112 about the sect of Christians, who were in "the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day, before it was light, when they sang an anthem to Christ as God."

Although a lot of these references were written about the same time as the Gospels what is truly fascinating is that these references are OUTSIDE of the Biblical account yet match them.

Archaeological Evidence for the Bible Part 1 (Old Testament)

Surprisingly, there is a lot of historical evidence for the places named in the Bible, especially in the book of Genesis. Here are some of the recent finds:

* Ebla tablets were discovered in the early 1970s which verified the existence of the "cities on the plain"---Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela—also called Zoar.

* Ebla also made mention of the city of Canaan, which many liberal scholars had said earlier was not in use at that and was used incorrectly in the Bible.

* A papyrus was found in Egypt in the nineteenth century which describes in detail many of the plagues and the Exodus itself. This papyrus, which currently resides in a Dutch museum, is known as the Ipuwer Papyrus, which was written by an Egyptian who was an eye-witness to these events.

* The Hittites were once thought to be a biblical legend, until their capital and records were discovered in Turkey

* In 1993, archaeologists uncovered a 9th century B.C. inscription at Tel Dan. The words carved into a chunk of basalt refer to the "House of David" and the "King of Israel." And the Bible's version of Israelite history after the reign of David's son, Solomon, is believed to be based on historical fact because it is corroborated by independent account of Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions.

* Another king who was in doubt was Belshazzar, king of Babylon, named in Daniel 5. The last king of Babylon was Nabonidus according to recorded history. Tablet was found showing that Belshazzar was Nabonidus' son.

* The ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah have been discovered southeast of the Dead Sea. Evidence at the site seems consistent with the biblical account: "Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens." The destruction debris was about 3 feet thick and buildings were burned from fires that started on the rooftops. Geologist Frederick Clapp theorizes that that pressure from an earthquake could have spewed out sulfur-laden bitumen (similar to asphalt) known to be in the area through the fault line upon which the cities rest. The dense smoke reported by Abraham is consistent with a fire from such material, which could have ignited by a spark or ground fire.

Reference: http://www.faithfacts.org/search-for-truth/maps/archaeological-and-external-evidence

We Could Learn a Lot From....

Evangelist Wally Tope




Evangelist Wally Tope, who had a history of risky evangelistic ventures smuggling Bibles into communist countries, died on this day in 1992 trying to stop the L.A. riots. The LA Times carried the original story:

Street evangelist Wallace Tope Jr.who was beaten and kicked when he tried to stop looters during the 1992 riots has died after lying in a coma for 19 months, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Wednesday.

Prosecutors said they have not decided what additional charges may be filed against Fidel Ortiz, 22, and Leonard Sosa, 24, both of whom already have pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and aggravated mayhem in the attack on Tope.

Tope's death is the 55th fatality linked to the riots. Officials at the Pasadena convalescent hospital where he died Nov. 24 at the age of 54 said he never regained consciousness after falling into the coma a few minutes after the April 30, 1992, attack.

Police at first were mystified as to why an evangelist such as Tope would venture into a dangerous riot zone to urge an end to the violence. But his friends said he had a history of risky evangelical missions smuggling Bibles into the Soviet Union and Christian literature into Eastern Europe before the fall of communism there.

The friends said that when the riots began last year in Los Angeles and Tope saw the looting on television, he asked associates at William Carey International University, a Christian college in Pasadena, to join him on a pilgrimage to halt the violence. When they refused to go, he went alone. Police say Tope drove his battered 12-year-old car to a shopping center near Sunset Boulevard and Western Avenue in Hollywood and started passing out religious pamphlets.

When looters broke into a drugstore, Tope confronted Ortiz, told him to repent and warned him that he would go to hell if he continued looting, according to court records that include statements by witnesses and police. The statements indicate that Ortiz threatened and punched Tope, who left hurriedly for his car.

Sosa, who was watching from a distance, joined his friend, Ortiz, and the two men chased Tope, beating and kicking him for several minutes, according to the statements.

"This wasn't some hit-and-run type thing," said Los Angeles Police Detective Ernie Basset, who investigated the attack. "They really thumped on this guy for awhile." A bystander flagged down an ambulance. The attendants said Tope immediately began proselytizing, telling them they would find their salvation in Jesus. "God bless you," he said softly on the way to the hospital before lapsing into the coma from which he never recovered.

"I know one thing," Tope's brother, Dennis, said later. "If anyone makes it to heaven, it will be my brother."

Sosa and Ortiz, both of whom wbrked as warehouse workers for a concessionaire at Dodger Stadium, were arrested a few weeks later after co-workers heard them bragging about the beating, police said. The two defendants have been held since their arrests on bail of $750,000 apiece. Marvin L. Part and Harvey E. Byron, attorneys for Sosa and Ortiz, have argued that the defendants did not plan the attack and did not intend to injure Tope so severely.

"They are two working guys who never had been in trouble with the law before . . . who were involved in actions that are still not entirely clear ... who had a momentary lapse of rationality," Part said. "They feel terrible about what happened."

A memorial service for Tope is scheduled for Dec. 10 at William Carey University.

While this is a sad story, Mr. Tope was and continues an excellent story to pattern after. He was a man more than willing to take a bold stand for the Christian Gospel!

Willie Pollard - The 9th Inning

Interesting little story which compares Christianity to a baseball game...definitely worth the time and these guys are doing a good work! They are on youtube under sdmemorylane and do old-time Gospel music.

Working behind the Scenes

There once was an elderly gentleman who was a very good shoemaker. He had wanted to become a minister but the way had never opened up. He was the friend of a young divinity student; and when one day the young man was called to his first charge the old man asked of the young preacher a special favor...In a nutshell his request was to always make the young mans shoes when he went into the pulpit. The young minister agreed and the old cobbler spent the rest of his days making shoes for the young man. The moral to this story? Sometimes the greatest work done for Gods kingdom is done behind the scenes.

Monastery on a cliff (joke)

There was a monastery perched high on a cliff. The only way to reach it was by riding in a basket, which several monks hauled up to the top.

The ride was steep, and to those who visited, it was terrifying.

One visitor was extremely nervous. Halfway up the ascent, he saw that the rope holding the basket was a bit frayed. He frantically asked the monk next to him how frequently the rope was changed.

After a brief silence, the monk replied, “Whenever it breaks.”

God Story #9 (Prayer Foils a Bank Robbery!!!)

A woman at a check-cashing store in Indianapolis had a rather unorthodox way of foiling a potentially dangerous (and fatal) situation. She used prayer. When Gregory Smith, a 23 year-old male, attempted to rob the store and pulled a gun on clerk Angela Montez, Ms. Montez's first reaction was to start praying. At first taken aback, then the robber began crying. He explained to Ms. Montez that he was an ex-servicemen with a young baby and could not find work. "We're going to be homeless," he said. "I've tried everything." Eventually, he reached into his pocket and the clerk became frightned beause he thought she was going to be shot. However, he said "It's okay" and emptied the chamber and gave her all the bullets. After talking and praying together for about 40 minutes without any disturbances, Smith allegedly left after taking $20 and Montez’s cellphone. The next day Smith turned himself in after his mother had seen him on T.V. and urged him to do it. An awesome story indeed, and we should pray for that criminal to become a Christian and to get on the straight and narrow.

Two wrongs don't make a right but two Wrights made an airplane! (Quote of the Week)

I heard that quote of the other day and just thought it was really neat. When you do the right things then the right things will happen for you. Too often in my life I had to learn this the hard way. Reliance on God, Dedication, determination, perseverance, and the like will help you to become the person you need to be and to find what you are looking for in life.

Letting inmates keep cats as pets

Although this story isn't necessarily Christian in nature, it is still a good story regardless. Indiana State Prison has been, for some time now, letting inmates keep cats as pets and the officials there are quite surprised by the results. In many cases, the inmates morale is much better and fights, assaults, and other general acts of misbehavior are very starkly down. Kudos to Indiana State Prison for their out-of-the-box thinking. Perhaps this is something that other prisons should adopt as well.