Sweet Tea & Theology

Dissent from Darwinism

What do 700+ scienctists have in common?  They’ve all signed the Scientific Dissent From Darwinism list.

Who gets to sign the list?

Signers of the Scientific Dissent From Darwinism must either hold a Ph.D. in a scientific field such as biology, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, computer science, or one of the other natural sciences; or they must hold an M.D. and serve as a professor of medicine. Signers must also agree with the following statement:

“We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.”

Thank You Issues Etc

The best I can tell is that I have been listening to Issues, Etc. since sometime in 2004. That is the date that my oldest mp3’s I have of the program.  And I have been appreciating the show since I started listening.

As many listeners know this show was canceled by KFUO AM earlier this year. There was an online petition put together to try and get the program back on KFUO AM.  The petition has 7,629 signature as of today.  Since then enough money was raised using the internet and other sources to get the program back on the air.  A simple search will give you more information if you like as well as listening to the show in my post I link to below.

Fundraising Auction for AOMin.org has Ended!

Bidding is closed.  We have a winning bid donation of $114 that will go directly to AOMin.org.  Thanks to everyone who bid in support of this ministry.

Update: For anyone interested this auction is ending this Sunday night at 10pm est.
(I will leave this up as the lead post for the weekend.)

I have appreciated and benefited from Dr. James White’s ministry for years now.  This note of appreciation would be incomplete if I did not mention the hard working Rich Pierce who keeps Alpha & Omega Ministries running behind the scenes.  Not only do I appreciate the work Dr. White does for the Kingdom, but he also did something very special for my wife and I.  Something we couldn’t forget if we tried.

Issues Etc vs KFUOAM Stats

Recently, on the Issues, Etc. Radio Program, Pastor Todd Wilken, the host, and Jeff Schwarz, the producer, went over answers to questions as to why their radio show was canceled. Those answers were given by David Strand, the LCMS Executive Director on the Board for Communication Services. Issues, Etc. is a great radio show. One of the best out there dealing with world issues, etc. from a conservative theological perspective.

If you listen to the Q&A as reviewed in the show (listen below), you will hear the admission that there really was no way to track the “success” of Issues, Etc. vs. the other radio programs on KFUO AM. Yet, these non-existent stats were still used in the decision making process.

Vote To Beat The Pyromaniacs!

Vote for my blog here!

A friend of mine, we’ll call him Frank, has asked for votes for the Best Religion Blog, 2008 for the PyroManiacs blog.

Can I get more votes than the PyroManiacs?  YES!  Is the probability very high that I do?  NO!  It could be fun though if enough people play.

I did think about something though since this is an election year.  I wonder if there are enough friends and foes out there of PyroManiacs to get votes.  What I mean is that we so often hear that people vote just as much for one candidate as they do against the other.  So do my friends plus their foes equal victory?

The Visibility of Barack Obama

Dr. Fields

Dr. Bruce L. Fields¹ of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School writes in the latest Themelios Journal² about Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy as it relates to his racial identity and who people actually see.

In his article, Barack Obama: The Quandary of “Selective Invisibility”³ Dr. Fields touches on what is visible about Obama and what needs to be invisible about him and his appeal.

The New One Dollar Bill?

What’s wrong with George?

Are Megachurches Healthier?

Are megachurches healthier than smaller churches?  According to the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University as reported by the Washington Post ¹ the answer seems to be yes.  According to the article megachurch congregations tithe more, are committed to attendance and build better relationships.  This seems to be contrary to how many people envision life in a megachurch.

Prayer and Donations Needed!

It wasn’t too long ago that a young pastor of a small church needed a vehicle for his family.  Word of this need spread through the blogs.  Several of us gave what we could and it added up in a short time.  Go read about what happened and then come back here to read the rest of this post.

Well, I discovered a very important need in the body of Christ due to a linking to my fundraising auction (see HT below).  This is an immediate and ongoing need.  Josh Rittenhouse’s mother, Carol, has cancer.  Treatment for her is very expensive.  Prayers are needed and anything financially you can spare from $5 to $50+ or whatever you can do.

The Shack Is Only Fiction?

I wanted to take a few moments to respond to some of the comments from one of my posts The Shack Review.

Interesting review. Unfortunately, I think it not only misses the point of the book but seems to find criticism for the sake of criticism. Advice to Christians to be discerning is excellent. However, understanding must accompany discernment. The review seems short on understanding.

Criticism is found for the sake of being accurate as to how God has revealed Himself through Scripture.  It seems that those promoting and praising The Shack seem to be short on understanding discernment.  Even a friend of mine who enjoyed the book admitted there are things in the book to be cautious of.

A New Trend In Corporate Worship?

Just as some have tried to Christianize secular songs see what happens if the corporate world tried to secularize Christian songs. Seeker-centered for corporations. Wait, that’s just called marketing, right?

Tim Hawkins is a funny guy!

It’s definitely worth a laugh…

Mark

Big Bang Recreated!

Look at the screen at the bottom left.  See the small white spot in the center?  That’s the Big Bang in action!  You can read the whole story and watch the short video by going directly to the article:
Scientists cheer as protons complete first circuit of Big Bang machine

This has got to be a very exciting experiment for many, especially, for those involved.  At a cost of £3.6 billion I certainly hope so.  For those of us in the U.S. that’s about $6.36 billion.  As the article states this is the “biggest and most expensive civilian experiment in the history of science.”  As fascinating and as fascinatingly expensive as this experiment is I want to make a few observations.

Obama, Abortion and Pay Grades

Christianity Today’s morning article Obama says abortion comment at megachurch forum too flip has some interesting quotes from Obama speaking about his answer to when a baby gets human rights at the Saddleback Forum.  Remember, Obama first said that this question was “above my pay grade.”  One immediate problem with that is many people are voting either for or against him based on this very issue.  And it is clear that he also has an opinion on the issue based on his voting record and his own words.  If he really thought it were above his pay grade he would not have voted and not given a public opinion.  It would have stayed “private” in the same way many politicians claim their faith is private.  Private when it’s convenient, I’d say.

The Metaphorical Safety of The Shack

So far I have two reviews of The Shack posted.  One, The Shack Review, by a dear brother and fellow church member Wayne Elliott.  The other, Uncovering The Shack, by local yet widely known Pastor Michael Youseff.

Now, I have another dear brother who I recently had a good Southern Baptist dinner with.  For folks not in the know, that’s Wednesday night dinner in the fellowship hall.  This brother understood the nuances and concerns of The Shack.  He kept this in mind while reading The Shack and, therefore, enjoyed the book without worrying about heretical persuasions.  I certainly appreciate this brother admitting there are concerns and approaching the subject as such.  The irony is that this is just the position that would make me not enjoy nor recommend a piece of writing, especially, for spiritual edification.  I would prefer to warn people about such a work and point them to something else.

Flew Names Dawkins A Secularist Bigot

The God Delusion by the atheist writer Richard Dawkins, is remarkable in the first place for having achieved some sort of record by selling over a million copies. But what is much more remarkable than that economic achievement is that the contents - or rather lack of contents - of this book show Dawkins himself to have become what he and his fellow secularists typically believe to be an impossibility: namely, a secularist bigot. (Helpfully, my copy of The Oxford Dictionary defines a bigot as ‘an obstinate or intolerant adherent of a point of view’).