What an acceptance speech for the Heisman Trophy!
Congratulations Tim Tebow, not just for winning the Heisman Trophy, but for having your priorities straight in your acceptance speech! You are a real winner!
Of course, if he was aborted like the doctor suggested to his mother, he would never have had this honour bestowed on him!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Friday, December 07, 2007
Teaching apologetics to Iranian Christians
Dr. James R White has been busy. He has been doing a series of videos for television satellite broadcasting into Iran. Here is a short clip from the first day of recording.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Tomorrow's People School
My wife, Charlaine, bless her heart, is a teacher for grade 3s, and also head of department for the junior phase (grade 0-3) at her school, Tomorrow's People Primary School, here in Pretoria, South Africa.
It is a Christian school for disabled children of all types. They accept normal children, children with learning disabilities, ADD, autistic, Down Syndrome, and up to children with cerebral palsy.
The idea behind the school is to normalise their education as much as possible, and even to get some to progress to the standard of normal schools. Obviously it depends very much on the individual child.
Obviously, schools like these are not cheap to run and they are always in need of one thing or another.
DISCLAIMER: I was not asked or approached by anyone from the school, not even my wife, to garner support for the school. I simply have noticed a need in the school.
A school like this needs finances to buy specialised computers with special software, for those that do not have the ability to write with their hands and therefore needs to be able to do class work on these special computers with special keyboards.
As a Christian school, Biblical principles are followed in their treatment of children. No child is seen as just another student.
My wife had only 6 children in her class this year (2007), as they were the difficult children in terms of abilities and disabilities. So many times my wife came home thinking that she was not making an impact on these children, just to be amazed a few days later at what they actually achieved.
Because one class could have children of such vastly different capabilities, teachers need to be acutely aware of how to handle each child's education. This calls for teachers with special abilities. That, in turn, leads to higher salaries, which the school can't afford, as their budget does not allow for it, since the school tries to keep school fees as low as possible to keep it affordable for the parents.
It would be nice to find sponsors for this school to be able to buy the specialised computer equipment for these special children, and also to be able to attract specialised teachers into the school.
If you have contact with anyone that may perhaps help in sponsorship, it would be greatly appreciated. Simply point them my way, and I will put them in contact with the owners of the school. It really doesn't matter if the sponsorship comes from within or from outside of South Africa.
Thanks for your time!
It is a Christian school for disabled children of all types. They accept normal children, children with learning disabilities, ADD, autistic, Down Syndrome, and up to children with cerebral palsy.
The idea behind the school is to normalise their education as much as possible, and even to get some to progress to the standard of normal schools. Obviously it depends very much on the individual child.Obviously, schools like these are not cheap to run and they are always in need of one thing or another.
DISCLAIMER: I was not asked or approached by anyone from the school, not even my wife, to garner support for the school. I simply have noticed a need in the school.
A school like this needs finances to buy specialised computers with special software, for those that do not have the ability to write with their hands and therefore needs to be able to do class work on these special computers with special keyboards.As a Christian school, Biblical principles are followed in their treatment of children. No child is seen as just another student.
My wife had only 6 children in her class this year (2007), as they were the difficult children in terms of abilities and disabilities. So many times my wife came home thinking that she was not making an impact on these children, just to be amazed a few days later at what they actually achieved.Because one class could have children of such vastly different capabilities, teachers need to be acutely aware of how to handle each child's education. This calls for teachers with special abilities. That, in turn, leads to higher salaries, which the school can't afford, as their budget does not allow for it, since the school tries to keep school fees as low as possible to keep it affordable for the parents.
It would be nice to find sponsors for this school to be able to buy the specialised computer equipment for these special children, and also to be able to attract specialised teachers into the school.
If you have contact with anyone that may perhaps help in sponsorship, it would be greatly appreciated. Simply point them my way, and I will put them in contact with the owners of the school. It really doesn't matter if the sponsorship comes from within or from outside of South Africa.
Thanks for your time!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Monday, December 03, 2007
Mohammedans are crypto-Christians
Steve Hays wrote an interesting blog post called "The blasphemous teddy bear."
It is certainly worth the read...
It is certainly worth the read...
Acceptance of sin in the church
This is probably going to cause some controversy, but I guess not that much, since I do not have thousands of readers here.
At a local church nearby, there was a member who was known to the leadership as a serial murderer. What was amazing about this church was that there was an organization that was passively condoned by this church, that promoted serial murder as a way of life. One would have to stretch the imagination to its limits to imagine something like this happening, yet here it was. What was even worse than this, is the fact that this church knew about this organization, and that several of its members were part of it, and that there was an actual serial murderer in their midst. Yet, the church passively condoned it all. I say passively, because the church did or said nothing against this organization or those that supported it.
On a smaller scale, churches are forever condoning sin by not doing or saying anything against it. We all know of the adulterers and fornicators in our churches, but the leadership in our churches are usually without any backbone and choose not to "offend" these offending church members.
The Bible is very clear about situations like these. Unrepentant people in the church should be treated as unbelievers. However, in the church today, these people are welcomed with open arms, and as such are encouraged (albeit passively) to continue in their sinful ways.
Now, coming back to the story about the church that condoned serial killers and their supporters, I hope you realize that it was completely fictional as the facts stand. However, it is not that far from the truth!
We have people in our churches that do commit murder everyday. We also have people in our churches that even encourage those that commit these murders.
What am I talking about? I am taking about abortion of course! It is nothing short of murder! And, it should be classified as such!
It is time that we confront these people, abortionists and their supporters in our churches. And, if they refuse to repent, we need to treat them as unbelievers.
That means, that when a person actively supports abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, pornography, or those that continue to legalize these abominations, then they should no longer be treated as believers and should effectively be excommunicated from the church.
Here in South Africa, where political parties can literally stand on absolute opposing sides of the coin, it should be much clearer for Christians to know who to vote for, but I guess that Christians here still vote very strongly according to the colour line and do not even think about moral issues.
Here, many who claim to be Christians actively vote for the ANC, who have been the greatest purveyors of immorality and injustice. They are the ones who have forced through liberal laws such as free abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, etc.
While a Christian party exists, the ACDP, many of these Christians still vote for and assist the ANC with all its immorality. In fact, I know a person who used to be a member of the ACDP, but walked over to the ANC and is expending all his energies in working for the ANC. Yet, while he is actively supporting the ANC (with all its injustices and immoral legislation) during the week, he comes to church on Sundays to raise his hands in worship unto the Lord.
I personally think that the church should start setting the boundaries of its membership and not just see membership as a notch on its belt and tithes in the church coffers.
There are real moral issues at stake here, and many who claim to be Christians in our churches are simply turning a blind eye at the terrible atrocities committed in the name of ANC forced law!
Church, stand up against immorality in the church! Do something about it!
Dare have a backbone!
At a local church nearby, there was a member who was known to the leadership as a serial murderer. What was amazing about this church was that there was an organization that was passively condoned by this church, that promoted serial murder as a way of life. One would have to stretch the imagination to its limits to imagine something like this happening, yet here it was. What was even worse than this, is the fact that this church knew about this organization, and that several of its members were part of it, and that there was an actual serial murderer in their midst. Yet, the church passively condoned it all. I say passively, because the church did or said nothing against this organization or those that supported it.On a smaller scale, churches are forever condoning sin by not doing or saying anything against it. We all know of the adulterers and fornicators in our churches, but the leadership in our churches are usually without any backbone and choose not to "offend" these offending church members.
The Bible is very clear about situations like these. Unrepentant people in the church should be treated as unbelievers. However, in the church today, these people are welcomed with open arms, and as such are encouraged (albeit passively) to continue in their sinful ways.
Now, coming back to the story about the church that condoned serial killers and their supporters, I hope you realize that it was completely fictional as the facts stand. However, it is not that far from the truth!
We have people in our churches that do commit murder everyday. We also have people in our churches that even encourage those that commit these murders.
What am I talking about? I am taking about abortion of course! It is nothing short of murder! And, it should be classified as such!
It is time that we confront these people, abortionists and their supporters in our churches. And, if they refuse to repent, we need to treat them as unbelievers.
That means, that when a person actively supports abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, pornography, or those that continue to legalize these abominations, then they should no longer be treated as believers and should effectively be excommunicated from the church.
Here in South Africa, where political parties can literally stand on absolute opposing sides of the coin, it should be much clearer for Christians to know who to vote for, but I guess that Christians here still vote very strongly according to the colour line and do not even think about moral issues.
Here, many who claim to be Christians actively vote for the ANC, who have been the greatest purveyors of immorality and injustice. They are the ones who have forced through liberal laws such as free abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, etc.
While a Christian party exists, the ACDP, many of these Christians still vote for and assist the ANC with all its immorality. In fact, I know a person who used to be a member of the ACDP, but walked over to the ANC and is expending all his energies in working for the ANC. Yet, while he is actively supporting the ANC (with all its injustices and immoral legislation) during the week, he comes to church on Sundays to raise his hands in worship unto the Lord.
I personally think that the church should start setting the boundaries of its membership and not just see membership as a notch on its belt and tithes in the church coffers.
There are real moral issues at stake here, and many who claim to be Christians in our churches are simply turning a blind eye at the terrible atrocities committed in the name of ANC forced law!
Church, stand up against immorality in the church! Do something about it!
Dare have a backbone!
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Challies: Win books on CD
It is that time of the month again! You can win a copy of The ESV Listener's Bible on CD and/or one copy of Classics of the Christian Faith from Challies.com.
First prize: One copy of The ESV Listener's Bible on CD and one copy of Classics of the Christian Faith on CD.
Second prize: Classics of the Christian Faith on CD.
Third Prize: Classics of the Christian Faith on CD.
Simply click on the banner below to enter:
First prize: One copy of The ESV Listener's Bible on CD and one copy of Classics of the Christian Faith on CD.
Second prize: Classics of the Christian Faith on CD.
Third Prize: Classics of the Christian Faith on CD.
Simply click on the banner below to enter:
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Finnish pastor on trial for believing women may not serve as pastors
"A pastor who refused to work with a female minister because of his biblical convictions has been charged with criminal discrimination by a Finnish court.
"Ari Norro will be on trial Nov. 16 for allegedly violating Finland's laws barring discrimination in the workplace or in public based on gender and other grounds, including sexual orientation, Christianity Today magazine reported.
"Norro is a member of the Lutheran Evangelical Association in Finland, a group within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland that believes the Bible does not allow women to serve as pastors."
Continue reading...
"Ari Norro will be on trial Nov. 16 for allegedly violating Finland's laws barring discrimination in the workplace or in public based on gender and other grounds, including sexual orientation, Christianity Today magazine reported.
"Norro is a member of the Lutheran Evangelical Association in Finland, a group within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland that believes the Bible does not allow women to serve as pastors."
Continue reading...
Monday, November 05, 2007
Charismatic nuttiness
Phil Johnson, one of the PYROMANIACS, has written a two-part blog post on the nuttiness of the charismatic movement.
Even though I will be seen as a charismatic, (yeah, I do believe that the gifts continue today), I do think that Phil's assessment has great value. It is for this very reason I do NOT like to be labelled a Reformed Charismatic, since the term "charismatic" has the meaning "charismaniac" in my mind. Simply think of all the heretics that are very acceptable within the charismaniac movement, and you immediately know why I would rather see myself as a continuationist and NOT a charismatic.
Anyhow, Phil's two posts are as follows:
If You Can't Say Something Nice...
Something "Nice"?
Even though I will be seen as a charismatic, (yeah, I do believe that the gifts continue today), I do think that Phil's assessment has great value. It is for this very reason I do NOT like to be labelled a Reformed Charismatic, since the term "charismatic" has the meaning "charismaniac" in my mind. Simply think of all the heretics that are very acceptable within the charismaniac movement, and you immediately know why I would rather see myself as a continuationist and NOT a charismatic.
Anyhow, Phil's two posts are as follows:
If You Can't Say Something Nice...
Something "Nice"?
Friday, October 19, 2007
Is the preacher a "reliable carrier" of God's truth?
Tullian Tchividjian brings us 5 questions on how to discern whether a teacher, preacher, or anyone else for that matter, is a "reliable carrier" of God's truth as revealed in the Bible. Of course, these questions are not the only questions that should be asked, but are merely a catalyst to think further on the issue!
I wonder how many pastors and teachers will pass the test on this one?
HT: Justin Taylor
Here are 25 more questions by Don Whitney, to see where a pastor or teacher stands.
I wonder how many pastors and teachers will pass the test on this one?
HT: Justin Taylor
Here are 25 more questions by Don Whitney, to see where a pastor or teacher stands.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
CELEBRATE THE REFORMATION
Dr. Peter Hammond from the South African Reformation Society wrote an article as to why the Reformation was important and why we should celebrate it:
"This year, Reformation Day, 31 October 2007, will be the 490 th Anniversary of Dr Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the church door of the Schlosskirsche in Wittenberg. 10 Jubilees!Continue reading...
Western civilisation has been blessed with the greatest freedoms, productivity and prosperity ever known in history. The liberty, standards of justice and creativity enjoyed in Western civilisation is a direct result of the Protestant Reformation of the 16 th Century.
Our Lord Jesus Christ taught: “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
It was Martin Luther’s earnest quest for peace with God and his intensive study of the Scriptures which led him to challenge the unethical fund-raising tactics of the papacy and launch the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s love for the Word of God and his dedication to truth led him to challenge the entire ecclesiastical and political authority of the Roman Catholic church and the Holy Roman Empire."
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Challies give away: 40 books
Tim Challies once again is giving away some books. This time he is giving away 40 books. To stand a chance of winning, go here!
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Self-made man? Think again!
I listened to an excellent sermon by Phil Johnson, from PyroManiacs fame. The sermon is called Paul's Conflict with Peter, which has an excellent portion dealing with people who claim that they have done it! Self-made men, and others in whatever field you think you have made it, beware! This portion of the sermon deals with God's sovereignty.
Download and listen!
Download and listen!
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