Category Archives: Uncategorized

It’s Friday! Halloween Candy Cursed! (And Why Alabama’s Victory Over LSU Is Certain)

OK… I’m a little late on this one… but did you know that Halloween candy is secretly cursed before it’s sent to your local grocery store?  And we know this is true because it was found on a blog put … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 8 Comments

Pacifism: Whom Does God Defend?

There many passages in the Old Testament where God promises to defend his people without regard to the power of the people. (Judg 7:2)  The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into … Continue reading

Posted in Pacifism, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 16 Comments

Pacifism: Additional Material

Over at the Berean Spirit discussion group, a part of Yahoo Groups, several good folks, including Tim Archer and Bobby Valentine, are having a great discussion on pacifism. They even mention this blog now and again. They seem disagree — … Continue reading

Posted in Pacifism, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Pacifism: Just War and Christian Politics, Part 2

Frankly, I doubt seriously that many national leaders — even US leaders — give a lot of thought to just war theology when deciding whether to go to war. The churches don’t teach this in Sunday school or preach it … Continue reading

Posted in Pacifism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: Don’t Forget Us

Can we identify with our brothers and sisters who suffer for Jesus around the world? RVL takes the group to a church carved 20+ stories underground in Cappadocia. An airshaft is disguised as a well. The church would have sat … Continue reading

Posted in Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Pacifism: Just War and Christian Politics, Part 1

I’m finding myself in the just war camp. I’m not 100% comfortable here, but it makes better sense to me than anything else I’ve heard. The doctrine defining a just war goes back to Augustine. Augustine was a bishop at … Continue reading

Posted in Pacifism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Pacifism: Mere Discipleship, Dual Loyalties, and the Pledge of Allegiance

Lee Camp, a professor at Lipscomb University, has written a marvelous book called Mere Discipleship. It has a chapter arguing for pacifism. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he’s the first professor at Lipscomb to agree with the founder, … Continue reading

Posted in Pacifism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 28 Comments

Pacifism: Police and Defensive War, Part 2

Another thought experiment Imagine a world where half the nations are almost entirely all Christians. The Christians all refuse military service, and quite consistently, they refuse to hire mercenaries. What will happen? If the non-Christian minority serves in the military … Continue reading

Posted in Pacifism, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 32 Comments

Overseeing the Moderate Church: Part 3

This brings us to teaching. Moderate churches generally have a very weak educational program, because the doctrines that divide the church are off limits. Either one side dominates the classes and the other side doesn’t listen, or else the tough … Continue reading

Posted in Overseeing the Moderate Church, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Pacifism: In Answer to Tim’s and Guy’s Questions

As usual, Tim has posed a number of thoughtful, challenging questions. I post my answers here because he’s pushed me to address some questions I was planning on getting to in future posts. I add my answer to Guy’s post … Continue reading

Posted in Pacifism, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments