When Christians Get Tattoos

We live in a day when even some Christians go for tattoos, body piercings, etc.
Some of the "Christian tattoos" are of crosses, anchors and so forth.

I am asking seriously...What do you say when someone shows you their new cross tattoo and you know they are a professed Christian?

"Hey... nice tat?"

"Hey man, the book of Deuteronomy speaks against body markings. Didn't you know that?"

Or something in between.

You may think this a sily post but tattoos continue to explode in popularity and even among professed Christians.

The Temple Rebuilt?????

Our ABA Sunday School literature states that the Anti-Christ will set himself up in the rebuilt Temple (II Thess. 2:4). Reading a blog by Bro. Tom McElmurry, however, has led me to believe that this will not happen.

II Thess. 2:4 "...he as God sitteth in the Temple (naos) of God, shewing himself that he is God."

Temple (naos) is not a literal temple but the same "temple" that is used in the verse "Know ye not that your body is the temple (naos) of the Holy Ghost?"

If II Thess. 2:4 was speaking of a literal temple, Bro. McElmurry states that the Greek word (hieron) would have been used for a literal temple. Therefore, the argument can be made that the Anti-Christ sets himself up in people's hearts, not in a literal temple. Make sense?? If Bro. McElmurry is correct, then our literature, as well as some commentaries, miss the mark on this one.

P.S. Not posting this to open a door for slamming our writers. But what is your opinion of the prophecy lessons this quarter???

Annointing With Oil

I preached a revival several years ago at an "independent" Baptist church in Nacogdoches, Tx. Several bottles of oil sat around the flat part of the pulpit. I asked about it & the pastor said that they occassionally used it on someone who really needed prayer.

I have never felt led to do that nor is it practiced in any other churches that I know of. However, based on James 5:14,15, what argument could you make against it except something like, "That's weird!"

Crazy Things

1.Looking up the elevator shaft to see if it's coming down (that's crazy)
2.Someone saying "I'm going to kill you dead." (that's crazy....how else can you kill someone)
3.Mountain climbers cutting their toothbrush in half to save on weight (that's crazy)
4.Saying "plastic silverware" (that's crazy)
5.Calling what doctors do "practice" (that's crazy)
6.Danny Bowman (that's crazy....love you brother)
7.Only singing three verses of Amazing Grace (that's crazy)
8.Student telling me that his dog pooped on his homework and he had to throw it away (that's crazy...and this week's latest excuse)
9.Student telling me that he cannot do his "Living Biography" assignment on a family member because his entire family is in hiding (that's crazy...and a recent excuse).
10.Sitting during the song "Stand Up For Jesus" (that's crazy)
11.Thinking the economy is as bad as it was in the Great Depression, when Starbucks is still in business (that's crazy)
12.Stealing tires from a tire dealership and rolling them in the snow to your college dorm room (that's crazy...happened at Angelina Jr. College years ago)
13.Rejecting Jesus (that's crazy)

You are welcome to comment or add your "crazy things." God bless.

Books of Late

Lately I've been reading the likes of:

The Bible (always a good one)

Common Sense by Glenn Beck

Dead Certain by Robert Draper
(about George Bush's preseidency)

K2 : Life & Death on the World's
Most Dangerous Mountain by Ed Viesturs

Books on the waiting list on Shelf 5:

What Difference Do It Make by
Ron Hall and Denver Moore

The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry


WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN READING???
(whoever you are)

A Wise Journey

The three(?) wise men embarked upon a wise journey.

1.It was a journey of faith. They didn't ask "Is he here..?" They asked "Where is He..?" Perhaps their ancestors had learned about a coming Messiah when the Jews had been taken captive in Babylon at least 600 years earlier?

2.It was a journey of worship. "we are come to worship him"
gold- fit for a king
frankincense- incense for worship
myrrh- used to annoint the dead (this was the world's sacrifice, right?)

3.It was a journey that took them a different way.
The wise men could not go back the way they had come. After finding Jesus, they went a different way. So should we.

If we could blend these components of the wise mens' journey, then perhaps we could have a wise journey through life as well.

Grace To All

Ephesians 6:24 "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen."