PREACHING THIS MORNING...'Soldiers of Christ' based on 2 Timothy 2:3-4. Are we prepared to follow our orders and be willing to lay down our life as a soldier in the the Lord's army?

(Hmmm...there seems to be a lot of dust around here.)

CONTEMPORARY PULPIT COOL

David Weaver hits this one out of the park:

They did what pastors all over the world have learned to do, they copied what they saw major contemporary pastors wear. That quickly turned into “contemporary pulpit cool.” A new tradition; a contemporary fashion dogma was born. Now pastors feel compelled to speak with their shirt out even in churches that minister to businessmen in suits. They all look alike. Some have become fashion trendsetters with their own line of “church cool clothing.” It really came into focus recently as I flipped through the channels and saw a young man standing on a stage dressed a certain way and immediately I said to myself, “He’s a pastor.” Sure enough it was a religious program and he was a pastor of a “contemporary church”, whatever that is.

Fighting the 'oppressive' status quo leads to its own unassailable status quo. Tuck in your shirt.


[Thanks to JMB for the link]

"JUSTICE CONSISTS of finding out a certain thing due a certain man and giving it to him. Temperance consists of finding out the proper limit of a particular indulgence and adhering to that. But charity means pardoning what is unpardonable, or it is no virtue at all. Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all. And faith means believing the incredible, or it is no virtue at all." -- from G.K. Chesterton, Heretics

NIV TO BE REVISED

After the debacle that was the Today's New International Version (TNIV) a few years ago, Zondervan has announced a full revision of the best-selling NIV:

The top-selling Bible in North America will undergo its first revision in 25 years, modernizing the language in some sections and promising to reopen a contentious debate about changing gender terms in the sacred text. The New International Version, the Bible of choice for conservative evangelicals, will be revised to reflect changes in English usage and advances in Biblical scholarship, it was announced Tuesday. The revision is scheduled to be completed late next year and published in 2011.

"We want to reach English speakers across the globe with a Bible that is accurate, accessible and that speaks to its readers in a language they can understand," said Keith Danby, global president and CEO of Biblica, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Christian ministry that holds the NIV copyright.

But past attempts to remake the NIV for contemporary audiences in different editions have been plagued by controversies about gender language that have pitted theological conservatives against each other.

The NIV is facing a challenge from the English Standard Version, which is a more conservative/literal translation but also very readable. The NASB, too, revised its language last decade, so the NIV is somewhat behind the curve on this. I am not anti-NIV as many are, although I wouldn't personally be comfortable using it as a primary study or pulpit translation. For me, the ESV gives me readability but combines that with a concern for a more literal translation.

A revision of the NIV is a major event in Bible translation. Let's hope they don't blow it.

'GOOD BEATS UPON THE DAMNED incessantly as sound waves beat on the ears of the deaf, but they cannot receive it. Their fists are clenched, their teeth are clenched, their eyes fast shut. First they will not, in the end they cannot, open their hands for gifts, or their mouths for food, or their eyes to see.' --C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

MORE WITH 'INDIANA' CHANDLER...at the audio blog/podcast The Book and the Spade where Luke Chandler discusses his recent work at the Elah Fortress dig in Israel via telephone interview. The second half of the interview airs next week.

DON'T MISS THE ADVENTURES OF 'INDIANA' CHANDLER at Luke Chandler's blog. Luke and his father Royce are spending three fun weeks working as volunteer excavators at an archaeological dig in Israel. It looks like a blast, and I would love to be there. Luke does a great job of providing Biblical context for the various sites he's able to visit on his site seeing trips. It's well worth reading all of his updates (and watching the videos).

OFF TO INDIA!

I leave for my fifth trip to India today. You can follow my exploits at 'Alan's India Blog', on the Hickman Mills Church website.

THE NOVEMBER MUMBAI ATTACKS

The world was shocked by the terror attacks on Mumbai last Thanksgiving where 166 people were killed and key targets were hit. I was planning for a January trip to India when the attacks happened, and they prompted our group to postpone that trip until July. Richard Watson of the Telegraph has a chilling article on what happened. He certainly indicates that questions remained unanswered despite official Indian insistence to the contrary.

I land in Mumbai next Tuesday.

VATICAN BONE FRAGMENTS
'CONFIRMED' TO BE THOSE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

The Vatican is claiming that ancient bone fragments have been confirmed to be those of the Apostle Paul:

Pope Benedict XVI said scientific tests confirmed shards found in the underground chamber at the church of St Paul's-Outside-the-Walls in Rome were from the apostle.

Saint Paul was said to have been buried with Saint Peter in a catacomb on the Via Appia, one of the Roman roads which leads out of the city, before being moved to a basilica which was erected in his honour.

For centuries it was believed that his remains were buried beneath the basilica's main altar, which was covered with a slab of marble inscribed in Latin with the words Paulo Apostolo Mart – "Paul, apostle and martyr".

The theory gained credence in 2006, when Vatican archeologists discovered a white marble sarcophagus hidden beneath the floor of the basilica – the largest in Rome after St Peter's at the Vatican – after four years of excavations.
It took three years for archeologists to subject the remains to the first ever scientific tests and establish that they belonged to Saint Paul, a Jewish Roman citizen from Tarsus, in what is now Turkey.

Pope Benedict XVI announced the findings during a service at the basilica, as Rome prepared to celebrate the Feasts of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

"This seems to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul," he said.

Well, it would be nice, no question. But one can't help but have skepticism in the face of a centuries old relic tradition that include a forest of shards of the one true cross.

That someone is buried there I do not doubt. Even that the carbon dating is accurate I can't challenge. But that we can without question--or even with strong probability--identify these remains as those of Paul's is still very much in question. This does not sound like a first century burial of a poor executed man to me:

He said experts had drilled a tiny hole in the sarcophagus, which has remained closed for nearly two millennia, to allow inspection of its interior.
Inside they found "traces of a precious linen cloth, purple in colour, laminated with pure gold, and a blue coloured textile with filaments of linen," Benedict said.

Certainly, a reburial is possible. But when did that happen? More questions have been raised than have been answered.

In related news, the Vatican has also released a fourth century fresco identified as the oldest known image of Paul. And, while intriguing, we must remember that it would have been created 300 years after his death by someone with no knowledge of what he actually looked like.

I'm just a wet blanket today.

PREACHING THIS MORNING...'My Father and Your Father', from Jesus' words to Mary following His resurrection. Christ, our Brother, has a unique relationship with the Heavenly Father as the only Begotten Son. Because of what our Brother was willing to do for us that we could not do for ourselves we can be adopted as sons, crying out 'Abba, Father!'

PREACHING THIS MORNING...'God's Righteous Judgment' from 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12. Those who do not know God and have not obeyed the gospel have much to fear from God's vengeance, which shall be revealed by Jesus and His angels. Let us, then, emulate the Thessalonians who were growing and increasing in faith and love.

OBAMA'S PRESIDENTIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Self-identified Christian President Barack Obama spoke to the Muslim world in Cairo in an effort to smooth over perceived US-Muslim schisms. In the process the President has discovered a remarkable new Presidential responsibility:

Mr Obama said: “I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear."

Who knew? I don't recall that being in the Presidential job description. If anyone has a quote where the President declares it is also his responsibility as President to fight against negative stereotypes of Christianity (his professed religion) please post a link in comments.

And a little Obama speech trivia: In today's speech he quoted from the Koran three times. Since he has been President the total number of quotes from the Bible: three.

COUPLE BARRED FROM HOSTING HOME BIBLE STUDIES

A couple in San Diego County have been ordered by county officials to stop having friends over for a Bible study or face massive fines:

Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County.

"On Good Friday we had an employee from San Diego County come to our house, and inform us that the Bible study that we were having was a religious assembly, and in violation of the code in the county." David Jones told FOX News.

"We told them this is not really a religious assembly — this is just a Bible study with friends. We have a meal, we pray, that was all," Jones said.

A few days later, the couple received a written warning that cited "unlawful use of land," ordering them to either "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit," the couple's attorney Dean Broyles told San Diego news station 10News.

But the major use permit could cost the Jones' thousands of dollars just to have a few friends over.

The Joneses understand the need to fight the order:

"The implications are great because it’s not only us that’s involved," Mary Jones said. "There are thousands and thousands of Bible studies that are held all across the country. What we’re interested in is setting a precedent here — before it goes any further — and that we have it settled for the future."

The couple is planning to dispute the county's order this week.

Of course, if they were just having some folks over to grill out this apparently wouldn't be a problem. Or maybe if they were having their weekly meeting of, say, Oprah's Book Club then no big deal. But say a prayer or pull out the Bible and clearly the state suddenly has an overpowering interest to stop it.

In a country with a guaranteed freedom of religion and freedom to assemble it's ought to shock and frighten us that both of those things suddenly can become illegal in our own homes.

UPDATE: County officials now appear to be backing down.

[Thanks to Beverly for the links]

LATE-TERM ABORTION DOCTOR GUNNED DOWN
George Tiller performed over 60,000 abortions

Infamous late-term abortion doctor George Tiller was shot to death on Sunday while serving as an usher at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas. A suspect was apprehended within hours.

Tiller gained noteriety for his promotion of late-term--third trimester--abortions of viable babies on the grounds of the 'mental health' of the mother. This website claims to document his abortion activities (Disclaimer: I have no connection with the linked site nor have I vetted it for content).

Now Tiller's supporters will turn him into a martyred saint for the grand cause of abortion. Tiller's killer has himself wrongly committed murder, for which he must pay the just penalty. Both of these men, Tiller and his shooter, should have remembered the Biblical principle of Genesis 9:6, which God Himself gave to Noah:

"Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image."

Let us understand that there are consequences for disregarding the value of a creation made in the very image of God. No one, abortionists or abortion opponents, are justified forgetting that.

CHURCHES FACE THE RECESSION

The recession necessarily affects churches, too, as they are primarily reliant on voluntary giving. The Lexington Herald-Leader has a rundown on how different relgious groups and organizations are dealing with the recession. The focus turns out to be more on seminaries and denominational superstructures rather than indidividual congregations, but some wise words from Prof. Timothy Paul Jones:

"What's most important for churches to do at this time is to return to their core calling as a congregation," Jones said. "Ask, 'What does God want us to do and to be in this community?' Then make cuts in ways that strengthen and highlight that vision rather than undercutting it."

It's worth a look.

PREACHING THIS MORNING...‘An Excellent Wife Is the Crown of Her Husband’: Thoughts On Finding a Spouse. God is not neutral on the subject of the mate we select, and we can't be, either!

PREACHING THIS MORNING...'Our Memorial Day'. Just as God established a memorial day--and a new beginning--for Israel with the Passover, so we, too, celebrate our Passover--Jesus Christ--in a memorial Lord's Supper each first day of the week.

CHARCOALED VESUVIUS SCROLL TO BE 'UNROLLED'

University of Kentucky scientists will attempt to 'unroll' a scroll turned into charcoal by the famous Vesuvius eruption that destroyed Herculaneum and Vesuvius:

On Aug. 24, 79 A.D., Italy's Mount Vesuvius exploded, burying the Roman towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii under tons of super-heated ash, rock and debris in one of the most famous volcanic eruptions in history.

Thousands died. But somehow, hundreds of papyrus scrolls survived — sort of — in a villa at Herculaneum thought to have been owned at one time by Julius Caesar's father-in-law.

The scrolls contained ancient philosophical and learned writings. But they were so badly damaged — literally turned to carbon by the volcanic heat — that they crumbled when scholars first tried to open them centuries later.

The remaining scrolls, stored away in Italy and France, haven't been read — or even unrolled — since 79 AD.

Now, a computer scientist from the University of Kentucky hopes that modern digital technology will allow him to peer inside two of the fragile scrolls — without physically opening them — and unlock secrets they have held for almost 2,000 years.

Brent Seales, the Gill professor of engineering in UK's computer science department, will use an X-Ray CT scanning system to collect interior images of the scrolls' rolled-up pages. Then, he and his colleagues hope to digitally "unroll" the scrolls on a computer screen so scholars can read them.

"It will be a challenge because today these things look more like charcoal briquets than scrolls," Seales said last week. "But we're using a non-invasive scanning system, based on medical technology, that lets you slice through an object and develop a three-dimensional data set without having to open it, just as you would do a CT scan on a human body."

This is fascinating--and extremely important--stuff. It's mind-boggling to imagine what might be in those scrolls, surely some contain writings lost to history since Biblical times. Let's hope the attempt is successful.

CONGRESS PARTY WINS BIG IN INDIA ELECTIONS

As both of the regular followers of Theosebes recall, I have made several trips to India in the past few years. Our group was scheduled to go again this past January, but the trip was postponed in light of the Mumbai terror attacks in November. It was the opinion of the Indian brethren we are in contact with that the terror attacks were aimed at destabilizing the current government, led by the Congress Party, in view of the elections scheduled for this spring. The feeling was that after the elections, the likelihood of more attacks would drop. The good news is that not only are the elections now over, but the incumbent Congress Party--led by Sonia Gandhi--gained seats in parliament. This ought to help maintain stability in India, and also lessen the influence of the Hindu radicals who have increased pressure on Christians in recent years. I am scheduled to return to India in July, and am looking forward to helping the brethren there any way I can.