Lifeway.com offers some interesting research as to how prospective attenders view a church based on its teachings about whether homosexual behavior is sinful. As might be expected, the religious background of the individuals has a large impact on whether they view opposition to the practice of homosexuality as a positive or negative for a church. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/6fbhn4 Lifeway.com is associated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
Catholics are more likely than Protestants to say that homosexual behavior is not sinful. Overall, teaching the sinfulness of homosexual conduct is a negative to 32% while 29% said such teaching would be a positive influence in helping them decide to visit a particular church. Among those who identified themselves as evangelical, born-again, or fundamentalist, 50% said they would be more likely to attend a church who saw homosexual behavior as sinful while only 21% said such teaching would be a negative. Of course, the bottom line is that we should be seeking to please God instead of man, so poll results like this are interesting statistics, but they count for nothing in the thinking of faithful Christians about what is right or wrong.
Also, surf on over to the Apologetics Press website (www.apologeticspress.org) and click on the E-books link in the left column. You'll find a variety of book-length material available for free download in .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) format. These books have been available for sale in printed book format in the past (some still are). Apologetics Press is located in Montgomery, Alabama. It operates under the oversight of an eldership of a Church of Christ in South Florida.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Catching Up Monday
Odds and Ends as another week gets underway --
1) I've been dealing with clogged up ears for weeks now . . . and it is getting worse. It has begun affecting my inner ears and giving me trouble with balance and dizziness. Two weeks ago, I was teaching a Bible class when I was suddenly struck with a severe case of vertigo. It was by far the worst I've ever experienced. I began "listing" -- if I'd been a ship, I would have definitely started taking on water. The small lectern I was standing behind was not stable enough to support me and I started to fall. A couple of agile guys in the class jumped up and caught me before I did any damage but it was scary. I have not had it that bad any more, but the dizziness and congestion has made my life miserable. I finally have an appointment with an ENT doctor this Thursday. Perhaps he can do something to make me better.
That partially explains why the blog posting has been light the last several days.
2) I was shocked Friday evening to hear of the death of newsman Tim Russert. By now, I'm becoming sympathetic of the feeling of "enough, already!" that I know many people are having about the excessive amount of TV coverage given to Mr. Russert's death. However, he appears to have been genuinely beloved by a great many people and his death happened in such a sudden, shocking way. Seeing someone who was apparently full of life and energy lose his life so quickly ought to once again impress us with the uncertainty of life. As James said, life is a vapor that appears for a little time, then vanishes way. Maybe at least a few people somewhere will think about their need to get their lives right with the Lord after hearing about Tim's untimely passing.
3) One of the young ladies in the church here graduated from high school recently. Her family held a reception for her at their home Saturday afternoon. Trish and I drove from Burlington down to their house in Granite Falls, Washington . . . 45 miles (and about an hour's driving time) away. They started worshiping with us a few months ago, but we had not visited in their home before. I'm impressed with the dedication of people who are willing to drive that far to be a part of the congregation here. It takes a lot of time and and gas money for them to make that trip. Of course, others who live much closer have a hard time fitting the church into their schedules. A preacher's life is filled with the good and the bad . . . and we struggle to keep everything in proper perspective. It is encouraging to see people go an extra mile (or 45) to serve the Lord.
1) I've been dealing with clogged up ears for weeks now . . . and it is getting worse. It has begun affecting my inner ears and giving me trouble with balance and dizziness. Two weeks ago, I was teaching a Bible class when I was suddenly struck with a severe case of vertigo. It was by far the worst I've ever experienced. I began "listing" -- if I'd been a ship, I would have definitely started taking on water. The small lectern I was standing behind was not stable enough to support me and I started to fall. A couple of agile guys in the class jumped up and caught me before I did any damage but it was scary. I have not had it that bad any more, but the dizziness and congestion has made my life miserable. I finally have an appointment with an ENT doctor this Thursday. Perhaps he can do something to make me better.
That partially explains why the blog posting has been light the last several days.
2) I was shocked Friday evening to hear of the death of newsman Tim Russert. By now, I'm becoming sympathetic of the feeling of "enough, already!" that I know many people are having about the excessive amount of TV coverage given to Mr. Russert's death. However, he appears to have been genuinely beloved by a great many people and his death happened in such a sudden, shocking way. Seeing someone who was apparently full of life and energy lose his life so quickly ought to once again impress us with the uncertainty of life. As James said, life is a vapor that appears for a little time, then vanishes way. Maybe at least a few people somewhere will think about their need to get their lives right with the Lord after hearing about Tim's untimely passing.
3) One of the young ladies in the church here graduated from high school recently. Her family held a reception for her at their home Saturday afternoon. Trish and I drove from Burlington down to their house in Granite Falls, Washington . . . 45 miles (and about an hour's driving time) away. They started worshiping with us a few months ago, but we had not visited in their home before. I'm impressed with the dedication of people who are willing to drive that far to be a part of the congregation here. It takes a lot of time and and gas money for them to make that trip. Of course, others who live much closer have a hard time fitting the church into their schedules. A preacher's life is filled with the good and the bad . . . and we struggle to keep everything in proper perspective. It is encouraging to see people go an extra mile (or 45) to serve the Lord.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
From the Sports Page
When I think of the sports announcers I grew up watching on TV, my mind goes to men like Curt Gowdy, Keith Jackson, Chris Schenkel, and of course Jim McKay. Maybe it is a trick of time and a youthful perspective, but it seems that in that era when many fewer sporting events were televised, the announcers were more competent and more professional. While Chris and Curt might have had occasional lapses of foot-in-mouth disease, I don't ever recall an instance when Jim McKay failed to get it right, and to say what needed to be said with calm assurance and a total sense that he knew what he was talking about. Whether it was covering a lumberjack competition for Wide World of Sports or the terrible tragedy of the 1972 Munich Olympics, McKay was always the right man with the right words in the right place at the right time. McKay died Saturday at age 86. Though Wide World of Sports and the Olympics on ABC are distant memories, it will be a long time before another sportscaster lives up to the mark McKay set.
University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban received a lot of unfavorable press coverage when he became the highest paid college coach in history in January, 2007. Many of those media sources probably won't bother to cover the news that he and his wife have donated a million dollars to fund scholarships for first-in-their-family-to-go-to-college students at the university. It is nice to see someone who makes very well in his profession give back a generous portion for a worthy cause. I was the first in my family to go to college, but I had been brought up with an appreciation for the value of education. There was always an automatic assumption that I would continue my education after high school. Unfortunately that family encouragement is not given to all young people who would benefit throughout the rest of their lives from a college education. Having scholarship money available to make the cost of that education more affordable is a definite hand up -- instead of a hand-out -- to lots of young men and women in my home state of Alabama.
Here in the Northwest, the Seattle Mariners are having a terrific year -- if the aim is to lose more games than anyone else. The M's now enjoy a two-game lead over the Colorado Rockies as Major League Baseball's best losers. They are on pace for a record-setting year in the losers' standings . . . and can expect to be rewarded by being able to go home at the end of September as they get a head start on the off-season while those teams like the Angels, Red Sox, and Cubs (who fare much more poorly as losers) have to continue playing in October playoffs. It's no secret that people here in the Northwest think differently than folks in the rest of the country -- so the Mariners are just showing how well they fit in.
University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban received a lot of unfavorable press coverage when he became the highest paid college coach in history in January, 2007. Many of those media sources probably won't bother to cover the news that he and his wife have donated a million dollars to fund scholarships for first-in-their-family-to-go-to-college students at the university. It is nice to see someone who makes very well in his profession give back a generous portion for a worthy cause. I was the first in my family to go to college, but I had been brought up with an appreciation for the value of education. There was always an automatic assumption that I would continue my education after high school. Unfortunately that family encouragement is not given to all young people who would benefit throughout the rest of their lives from a college education. Having scholarship money available to make the cost of that education more affordable is a definite hand up -- instead of a hand-out -- to lots of young men and women in my home state of Alabama.
Here in the Northwest, the Seattle Mariners are having a terrific year -- if the aim is to lose more games than anyone else. The M's now enjoy a two-game lead over the Colorado Rockies as Major League Baseball's best losers. They are on pace for a record-setting year in the losers' standings . . . and can expect to be rewarded by being able to go home at the end of September as they get a head start on the off-season while those teams like the Angels, Red Sox, and Cubs (who fare much more poorly as losers) have to continue playing in October playoffs. It's no secret that people here in the Northwest think differently than folks in the rest of the country -- so the Mariners are just showing how well they fit in.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Interesting Preacher Names
One of the email discussion lists has a thread going about distinguished (or at least distinctive) names some well-known preachers, educators, and editors in churches of Christ have worn. Here is a sampling:
- Batsell Barrett Baxter (Jr. and Sr.)
- Vanderbilt Pierpont Black
- Eulie R. Brannan
- Grover Cleveland Brewer
- Hall Laurie Calhoun
- Arvy Glenn Freed
- Elmer Claude Gardner
- Benton Cordell Goodpasture
- Furman Kearley
- Theophilus Brown Larimore
- Reuel Lemmons
- Austin McGary
- Athens Clay Pullias
- Rubel Shelly
- Filo Bunyan Syrgley
- Fanning Yater Tant
- Foy Esco Wallace, Jr.
- Gervais Knox Wallace
- Guy Napoleon Woods
- Flavil Yeakley
- M. Norvel Young
Full Content Sermon Outlines
When I moved from Florida to Washington last summer, I left behind on the old church's website a great many sermon outlines. (I have the original files, of course). Finally I have gotten a new website featuring full-content outlines of sermons I have preached thus far in 2008. In time, I will try to add some 2007 sermons which have never been posted online before. These sermons are in PDF format so readers will need an Acrobat reader or other software to read those files. Almost all modern computers have PDF reading software. If not, it's a free download.
I also reached deep into my pockets to pay the 99 cents required to register a .info domain name -- which in addition to free web hosting at googlepages.com makes the cost of maintaining this website about $0.08 per month. Obviously, this demonstrates my willingness to spare no expense to satisfy the public's demand for my sermons!
Seems like I'm forgetting something. Hmm, let's see. Oh yes, if you've read this far, you might just like a link to the sermons website: www.johnfgaines.info
I also reached deep into my pockets to pay the 99 cents required to register a .info domain name -- which in addition to free web hosting at googlepages.com makes the cost of maintaining this website about $0.08 per month. Obviously, this demonstrates my willingness to spare no expense to satisfy the public's demand for my sermons!
Seems like I'm forgetting something. Hmm, let's see. Oh yes, if you've read this far, you might just like a link to the sermons website: www.johnfgaines.info
Monday, June 2, 2008
A Preacher's Library
I've been busy lately getting the books in my library properly categorized. I had started classifying my books several years ago using the Dewey Decimal system, but did not get the job finished. It is easy when the book has the Dewey number printed with other publication information on the copyright page, but many publishers neglect to offer that helpful assist to home librarians.
I have discovered, however, that Abilene Christian University and Harding Graduate School of Religion classify their books using the Dewey system (most college and university libraries use the Library of Congress classification system). Public libraries tend to use the Dewey system but many of them are pretty lacking in theological volumes in their stacks. However, the ACU and HUGSR "card catalogs" are online -- ACU is part of a consortium of libaries in the Abilene area -- and they list most books a preacher is likely to have in his library. Apparently there is some discretionary judgment involved because they don't always agree on the Dewey numbers for a particular volume. Still this is a good way to find an informed librarian's judgment about how a book should be numbered. It is certainly easier than trying to figure it all out by yourself.
However, I have learned that going into too much detail with the Dewey system is counterproductive with libraries the size that an average preacher might have -- say 1,000 - 2,000 volumes. For example, commentaries are best arranged on the shelves in biblical order so the Dewey system is not really needed for them. But to have everything done properly with each book having a Dewey number, just give OT law and history 222, poety and wisdom lit, 223, prophecy 224, Matthew-Acts 226, epistles 227, and Revelation 228. 221 (OT) and 225 (NT) serve general works such as surveys and introductions.
I have discovered, however, that Abilene Christian University and Harding Graduate School of Religion classify their books using the Dewey system (most college and university libraries use the Library of Congress classification system). Public libraries tend to use the Dewey system but many of them are pretty lacking in theological volumes in their stacks. However, the ACU and HUGSR "card catalogs" are online -- ACU is part of a consortium of libaries in the Abilene area -- and they list most books a preacher is likely to have in his library. Apparently there is some discretionary judgment involved because they don't always agree on the Dewey numbers for a particular volume. Still this is a good way to find an informed librarian's judgment about how a book should be numbered. It is certainly easier than trying to figure it all out by yourself.
However, I have learned that going into too much detail with the Dewey system is counterproductive with libraries the size that an average preacher might have -- say 1,000 - 2,000 volumes. For example, commentaries are best arranged on the shelves in biblical order so the Dewey system is not really needed for them. But to have everything done properly with each book having a Dewey number, just give OT law and history 222, poety and wisdom lit, 223, prophecy 224, Matthew-Acts 226, epistles 227, and Revelation 228. 221 (OT) and 225 (NT) serve general works such as surveys and introductions.
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