A Critical Review Against Extreme Fundamentalist Baptist Grindhouse Films

I was looking back at my younger Christian years when I was involved in conspiracy theories, attacking almost everything on the media, and there are insanely crazy sites like Chick Publications and Jesus-is-Savior.com. Both sites are extremely cheesy. As Phil Johnson would say about the two sites, “Some people insist that the only way to reach our generation with the gospel is by laboring to seem as cool or as non-confrontational as possible. This guy seems to think the goal is the opposite: to be as cheesy and offensive as possible. Both strategies are equally misguided.”

Praying According to God’s Will

I still feel like I may not continue with the study of Ecclesiastes right away. Instead, I decided to do some devotionals based on the verse of the day from the Tecarta Bible Application. Now, the verse of the day is 1 John 5:14-15 which says:

¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (ESV)

Being Careful About That Judgmental Attitude

Judge not and you will not be judged can be misinterpreted. There’s a difference between being judgmental and telling someone they are wrong. Meanwhile, John 7:24 also warns to judge with righteous judgment. In short, one is to judge according to godly standards. The warning isn’t about judgment itself but rather having a judgmental attitude.

Those Who Love Money Will Only Want More Money

In the next part as I continue my slow writing on Ecclesiastes–it’s the topic about money. The New Testament has 1 Timothy 6:10 warning that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Here, we read about how those who love money will never be satisfied by it. Money isn’t inherently evil. God ordained a monetary system for Israel as a storage for value. The problem is when people let money control them instead of them controlling their money. That’s why we’ve got stingy people (who hoard money) and spendthrift people (who overspend money)–both are rooted in greed so they’re prone to do anything immoral to accumulate money.

Less Talk, Less Mistakes

As I continue my slow study of Ecclesiastes–I decided to think about what Ecclesiastes 5 deals with. Here are the verses that would be a good study for today:

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. ²  Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. ³ For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

⁴ When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. ⁵ It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. ⁶ Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷ For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity;^[e] but^[f] God is the one you must fear. (ESV)

Is God Unfair for Sending Morally Good (By Human Standards) Unbelievers to Hell?

It’s really the age of moral and religious relativism, now, isn’t it? It’s more often said that it doesn’t matter what religion you practice as long as you’re a morally good person. Declaring one is a born-again Christian isn’t bigotry unless one preaches John 14:6. Nominal Christianity isn’t a crime. True Christianity is a crime to the world’s standards. I’m often told that I’m wrong in believing that only my religion is right. The issue isn’t my religion but Jesus said in John 14:6–He’s the only way to the Father. That’s a very hard-to-believe truth, especially in this age of moral and religious relativism.

Understanding More of What the Name Jehovah or Yahweh Means

Today, John Piper’s devotional entry is called “10 Things “Yahweh” Means”. I feel the need to write about understanding the meaning of Yahweh or Jehovah. It would be interesting to know that Jehovah is the Latinized form of Yahweh. I don’t want to argue too much about which is right. Jehovah is translated as LORD–all in capital letters. The KJV uses Jehovah in some areas of the Old Testament for some reason.