A MODERN DAY INDIANA JONES?

Well, I'm looking forward to the new movie this summer, but Tudor Parfitt has gone one step further. He claims to have found the Ark of the Covenant, and he's written a book about it. You can read an excerpt at MSNBC.

IRS TO INVESTIGATE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

After church member and Presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke at a United Church of Christ convention the IRS is threatening to strip the denomination of its tax exempt status. However, the mayor of Hartford, Connecticut has asked elected officials to intervenes:

Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez asked Congress today to investigate the IRS' threat to strip the United Church of Christ of its tax-exempt status over Barack Obama's speech to a church convention in Hartford in 2007.

"If the IRS is successful, every church synagogue and mosque that invites an elected official to speak on issues such as the war in Iraq, abortion, the environment, labor and other issues of social justice could fear loss of their non-profit status," Perez said.

He is asking U.S. Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman and U.S. Rep. John B. Larson to intervene.

"This IRS action should outrage members of both parties and people of faith throughout the country," Perez said.

A letter from the IRS to the church says candidates are permitted to speak at church functions, but if a candidate is speaking "in his or her capacity as a candidate, then other candidates running for the same office must also be invited."

The church says Obama, a UCC member, was one of 60 speakers from many fields invited to talk about the intersection of their faiths and vocations. He was invited a year before becoming a presidential candidate.

It seems to me the IRS doesn't really have a leg to stand on. Obama is a member of the UCC, and he was invited well before he became a candidate. All political office holders are perpetual candidates anyway. Now certainly churches do not need to become simply political arms of either party, which can be a real danger, but this seems to be a tempest in a teapot.

RIP: WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY, JR.

Conservative commentator and founder of National Review William F. Buckley, Jr. has died at age 82. I read his God & Man at Yale in college and it proved to be a gateway into intellectual conservatism for me. I was able to interview WFB for my senior thesis in college at the National Review offices, a truly wonderful experience.

Without his founding of National Review magazine the American political and cultural landscape would have been far different, and likely would not have included Ronald Reagan as President.

He was a towering figure and will be missed.

PREACHING THIS MORNING...'Honor the King' from 1 Peter 2:11-17 in a series from the epistle. Peter explains that although we are aliens and strangers we still must show deference to human institutions. If Peter could tell us that during the time of Nero surely we can honor the candidates we have been given for office regardless of how challenging that may seem at times.

ANCIENT CITY FOUND IN INDIA

Archaelogists have discovered a 2500 year old city in eastern India that may have had a population of 25,000:

The remains have been discovered at Sisupalgarh near Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern state of Orissa.

Researchers say the items found during the excavation point to a highly developed urban settlement.

The population of the city could have been in the region of 20,000 to 25,000, the archaeologists claim....

RK Mohanty of the department of archaeology, Deccan College, Pune, who is one of the two researchers involved in the excavations.

"The significance of this ancient city becomes clear when one bears in mind the fact that the population of classical Athens was barely 10,000," he said.

Not all are convinced by the theories surrounding the findings, however:

But some historians and archaeologists in Orissa have expressed reservations about the claim of the two researchers.

"At best, it is a guesswork. Without excavating the entire area of the fortified city, it is not possible to determine its population or periodicity," said BK Rath, former director of the state archaeology department.

"The actual area excavated so far is only a minuscule part of the city. How does one determine the size of the average family in a period about which very little historical literature or evidence is available?"

Such disagreements are what often help produce the fruit of truth in such situations. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the find.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails...

NEW LEADERSHIP for the Mormon and Greek Orthodox churches.

NUNS AND MONKS are on the decline the Catholic Church is finding.

A GOD PREDATING ZEUS

Archaeologists have found evidence of pre-Greek worship of a god on site long associated with Zeus worship:

But archaeologists say they have now found the ashes, bones and other evidence of animal sacrifices to some pre-Zeus deity on the summit of Mount Lykaion, in the region of Greece known as Arcadia. The remains were uncovered last summer at an altar later devoted to Zeus.

Fragments of a coarse, undecorated pottery in the debris indicated that the sacrifices might have been made as early as 3000 B.C., the archaeologists concluded. That was about 900 years before Greek-speaking people arrived, probably from the north in the Balkans, and brought their religion with them.

The excavators were astonished. They were digging in a sanctuary to Zeus, in Greek mythology the father of gods and goddesses. From texts in Linear B, an ancient form of Greek writing, Zeus is attested as a pre-eminent god as early as 1400 B.C. By some accounts, the birthplace of Zeus was on the heights of Lykaion.

After reviewing the findings of pottery experts, geologists and other archaeologists, David Gilman Romano of the University of Pennsylvania concluded that material at the Lykaion altar “suggests that the tradition of devotion to some divinity on that spot is very ancient” and “very likely predates the introduction of Zeus in the Greek world.”

Fascinating.

SOME ACTUAL SCIENCE applied to the millennarian agitation over so-called global warming. It looks like global cooling is on its way instead.

I HAD NO IDEA HE WAS A CANDIDATE...














but with these options I think I'll have to go with Firewood.

(Apologies for leading Theosebes into politics per se, but when I saw these signs while driving through Macon, Georgia, I couldn't resist.)

PREACHING THIS MORNING...'The First Verse In the Bible', first of a 30,442 part series. (Okay, I'm just joking about that last bit.) The first verse of the Bible lays a foundation of the existence of God, His pre-existence and His immense power. The Bible takes the thread of Creation to demonstrate our need to give God honor and obedience as well as to lead us to the One for whom and by whom the universe was created: Jesus Christ.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT JESUS

ESPN's Dana Jacobson has learned the hard way to be careful about drunken rants about Jesus:

Jacobson, co-host of "First Take" on ESPN2, went on an expletive-filled rant about Notre Dame University during her turn at the podium to roast the ESPN Radio hosts Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic. According to The Press' review by At The Shore Editor Scott Cronick, Jacobson approached the podium drinking vodka straight from the bottle, and spent her time in the spotlight mumbling and repeatedly cursing....

The controversy surrounding Jacobson's choice of words has continued to grow, and some religious groups continue to insist that more must be done. Today, the Christian Defense Coalition will lead a public demonstration and prayer vigil outside the ESPN offices in Connecticut. The group wants Jacobson fired.

"By publicly saying, 'F--k Jesus,' while representing ESPN, Dana Jacobson has crossed a very well-defined line," reads a statement from the coalition. "Her comments are so outrageous and inflammatory that the only proper response for ESPN is to immediately release her."

Jacobson has been suspended by ESPN. She just better be glad she didn't say anything bad about Mohammed then she really could have been in trouble!

MORMON CHURCH PRESIDENT Gordon Hinckley has died at age 97.

IS CHURCH DISCIPLINE OUTDATED?

The Wall Street Journal seems shocked--shocked!--that the age old (and might I add, biblical) practice of church discipline is rearing its head. Of course the article starts off with a 71 year old Bible class teacher being led from church property in handcuffs, but rather than being a return of the Inquisition it can be a sign of a healthy church:

Her story reflects a growing movement among some conservative Protestant pastors to bring back church discipline, an ancient practice in which suspected sinners are privately confronted and then publicly castigated and excommunicated if they refuse to repent. While many Christians find such practices outdated, pastors in large and small churches across the country are expelling members for offenses ranging from adultery and theft to gossiping, skipping service and criticizing church leaders.

The revival is part of a broader movement to restore churches to their traditional role as moral enforcers, Christian leaders say. Some say that contemporary churches have grown soft on sinners, citing the rise of suburban megachurches where pastors preach self-affirming messages rather than focusing on sin and redemption. Others point to a passage in the gospel of Matthew that says unrepentant sinners must be shunned.

The article paints the practice as the capricious prerogative of a threatened leadership. Obviously, any leadership worth its salt can stand honest and open questions. Church discipline is not to be used as a tool of intimidation, but rather as a means to remove the leaven from the lump (ie, an unrepentant bad influence on the congregation) and to impress upon the one being disciplined the seriousness of his spiritual condition.

Contrary to some opinions, discipline exercised by a church has no bearing on the disciplined member's status before God:

The process can be messy, says Al Jackson, pastor of Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn, Ala., which began disciplining members in the 1990s. Once, when the congregation voted out an adulterer who refused to repent, an older woman was confused and thought the church had voted to send the man to hell.

Neither I nor anyone else can send someone to hell. One's status before God will be a reflection of one's own attitude and actions, not those of someone else. But that does not mean that congregations do not have a God-given responsibility to discipline members when it is called for, while still treating the errant member as a brother, not an enemy. That means if someone is not actively disruptive to the proceedings at hand, I would think worship is exactly where the unrepentant member needs to be in hopes he will be encouraged in the right direction. Dragging little old ladies away in handcuffs tends not to be the way to go.

The real problem many churches face is that without proper leadership, ie, scripturally appointed elders, the process of discipline is very hard to initiate and even harder to carry out effectively. And once again we return to the problem of a lack of strong leadership among churches being our greatest crisis.

[Thanks to Wild Bill for the article]

PREACHING THIS MORNING...'Our Resolution: Finish the Course'. As we face a new year, we must make it our resolve that no matter what gets in our way, we will finish the course and receive the great prize our Heavenly Father holds for us.

PACKING UP

As many of you are celebrating in the New Year Monday night I should be somewhere over the Atlantic on the way to my fourth India trip. As always, I'm looking forward to seeing the brethren there and praying we can have doors of opportunity open to us.

Travel to India wouldn't be, well, travel to India without something dramatic going on. Two years ago it was the Mumbai train bombings, last year it was a massacre committed by separatists in the Northeast. This year it is anti-Christian riots in Orissa state:

Twelve village churches were burned and ransacked in eastern India over Christmas as Hindu extremists clashed with members of the Christian minority.

One person died and more than 25 were injured in the violence in Orissa state.

It was sparked after Hindu hard-liners objected to the scale of a Christmas Eve prayer vigil, according to the Catholic Bishops Conference in New Delhi....

The violence is part of periodic flare-ups between Christians and followers of India's dominant religion who accuse the missionaries of trying to convert low-caste Hindus.

Missionary activity is a source of serious tension in parts of India where hard-line Christian groups talk of "liberating" low-caste Hindus.

Rising anti-missionary sentiment has caused several Indian state governments to pass anti-conversion laws which India's Christians - who represent 2.5 per cent of the country's 1.1 billion population - are fighting in court.

On the bright side, none of us are traveling to Orissa state. However, this year one of our team members ran into visa problems, the first for anyone in our groups traveling to India.

A lot of the unrest is a reaction by the fundamentalist Hindus against modernization. They view Christianity as a Western religion in many ways. Of course, the real threat to them isn't Christianity, but secularism resulting from a more educated population. Few educated individuals are going to believe Hindu mythology with much fervor. It's much easier to riot against something tangible like Christianity than secularism.

Please pray for our safe journey and that our time in India will go well. I hope to post updates here as Internet access and time allows.

FIRE DESTROYS DYERSBURG CHURCH
building hit by lightning

I received an email from a friend asking for prayers for the Pierce Lane Church of Christ in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Their building was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. The church is largely comprised of elderly members who are now faced with some hard decisions. Please pray for them and for the Lord's work in that area.

THE NATIVITY 'LEGEND' & THE ARCHBISHOP

The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England (well, just below the queen) and top dog in the worldwide Anglican fellowship, has created a bit of a firestorm about a reference to the nativity 'legend'. Here is what Dr. Rowan Williams (aka, the AoC) had to say:

During an interview on Radio Five, the Archbishop of Canterbury dismissed the well-known version of events as legend saying: "Matthew's Gospel doesn't tell us there were three of them, doesn't tell us they were kings, doesn't tell us where they came from.

"It says they are astrologers, wise men, priests from somewhere outside the Roman Empire, that's all we're really told."

Turning to the topic of when Jesus was born, he said it was 'very unlikely'that there was snow.

He said there was no evidence of animals present - a popular theme of Christmas cards.

He dismissed the idea that the star of the North stood still in the night sky - because stars just don't behave like that.

For good measure, he added Jesus probably wasn't even born in December. He said: "Christmas was when it was because it fitted well with the winter festival".

Well, now of course there wasn't snow. But is it also groundbreaking to point out that there is no indication of how many wise men there were? Or that they weren't kings? Or that they weren't there on the night of the birth of Jesus? In fact, they may have been there up to two years later, as that was the target age of Herod's massacre. One must commend Dr. Williams for actually paying attention to the Biblical account rather than to Christmas songs for his information.

Now as far as how stars 'behave', well in this instance they 'behave' however God directs them to. And for animals, He was laid in a manger (Luke 2:7, 12, 16), although it's unlikely any cows bowed down to Him.

But the real question for the Archbishop is, was Santa really there kneeling before the manger?

NON-BELIEVING VOTERS DISTRESSED

In the face of Presidential candidates like Huckabee and Romney, apparently atheist voters feel disconnected from the political process:

One presidential hopeful is a preacher, another proudly Mormon, and most openly tout their Christianity. In an arena where faith can make or break a politician, the one in 10 Americans who profess no religion feel left in the cold.

"They're very disconcerted," said Darren Sherkat, an atheist sociology professor specializing in religion at Southern Illinois University.

"They're horrified by both the Democratic and Republican rhetoric surrounding religion -- that people who are not religious ... are immoral, that they're not qualified to serve in public office," he said.

Well, they do have Hillary don't they?

At any rate, while Huckabee and Romney do little to inspire (me), I do hope at least this much is true:

[Margaret Downey] claims atheists are "the fastest-growing minority in America."

And I thought the article was trying to highlight some sort of problem.