DO YOU KNOW HOW THE APOSTLES DIED?

I received this email today and thought is was interesting.

DO YOU KNOW HOW THE APOSTLES DIED?

The disciples of Jesus gave their lives for the preaching of the gospel.

1 Matthew: Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia , killed by a sword wound

2 Mark: Died in Alexandria , Egypt , after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead

.

3 Luke: Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

4 John: Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome . However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos . He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

5 Peter: He was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

6 James: The Just, leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. * This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.

7 James the Great: Son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem . The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian

8 Bartholomew: Also known as Nathaniel Was a missionary to Asia . He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey . Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

9 Andrew: Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras , Greece .. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: 'I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.' He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.

10 Thomas: Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent

11 Jude: Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

12 Matthias: The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.

13 Paul: Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire . These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.

Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake:

But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. ~ Matthew 10:22

Have a great Resurrection Day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaghAvZUAOY






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fki5wq48fpc

Keith Green: Easter Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3kc1jDahU4

Happy Easter! And now Supply Side Jesus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxsbj4TNJg0


A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith

Trying out Digeus Registry Cleaner 5.4

I try out new products every once in a while that help clean out my laptop of unnecessary junk. One way of speeding things up on my PC's is to clean the registry... now I am not that great at doing it by putting in "regedit" and removing stuff. In fact I have done that and messed things up. I have found some products in the past that work well. I found Crap Cleaner and Glary Utilities both work well, yet both seem to also miss things when I run my anti-spy programs. In fact, I have some great anti-spy products that miss things in the registry or finds the issue, yet does not remove it. I recently was introduced to Digeus.com who have a product called, Registry Cleaner (Yeah, I know... not an original name but who cares if it works. I ran it once and found a entry I thought I had removed. None of the other programs found it. (If you have loaded eMule on your computer you know how hard it is to remove it.) In fact it came out with over 637 bad entries! I had just ran my Glary Utilities yesterday!

Of course this impresses me. I mean if you think a program is gone and still find it, it is not... and this day and age who knows what is left and what information is being passed on. (Yeah, I am that paranoid! LOL!)

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Here is some info:

Digeus Registry Cleaner 5.4

Award winning software starts by conducting a deep scan of your registry, checking for file extension errors and other registry conflicts. With Digeus Registry Cleaner you’ll see immediate increases in performance and decreases in system conflicts.Here is the list of the most commonly reported computer problems which will be solved:

- Slow Boot up

- Longer Machine Response Time

- Unexpected System Crashes

- BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)

- Unresponsive System

- Slower Internet Browser Response

- Slow Start Up of Your Favorite Software

A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith

Philippians 2:4-5

Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.- Philippians 2:4-5

How does that verse fit into your political views?

Updates: What am I up to?

I guess I need to update a bit as to what I have been up to the last few weeks. I posted a few weeks ago that I was heading toward Gastric Bypass Surgery (GBS) and well, I had it on March 8th. Everything went well and I am now in my second week post surgery.

I went in to the surgery and was shaved, poked and finally prayed over (thanks) by Chaplin Terry (who is a friend and fellow Vineyard attendee). Really, after the IV was put in, I was out, so do not remember anything until I woke up in my room... even that is a bit fuzzy other than realizing I had tubes coming out everywhere... even places you do not want to know about! I am told all went smoothly (though some issues with the catheter which I really do not want to talk about). Everyone was really nice at St. V's. Dr. Hatch seemed to think it was a job well done... and I felt like I had lost a knife fight even with the nice narcotics they let me pump into myself. To say this was the easy way out would be really a misnomer. It hurt like hell... trying to sit was truly painful and they had me sitting up almost right away. Really, I became thankful for the catheter as I realized that getting up to go to the bathroom would be more painful than it was worth.

Dr. Hatch came in and asked me how I felt… and I laughed. She asked me were the pain was, and pointing to my incisions and said, “About right here where you did the surgery.”… she laughed.

I seemed to sleep about an hour or two and then would get up to walk. I am not sure if the meds were aiding in helping me rest or not… (Most likely they were, but I never slept more than a couple of hours at a time.)

Day two, they removed the catheter and stated that if I could not pee, they would have to take me back to the OR and do another one… which did not sound fun. TES and the kids were there as I was trying to pee… and the kids were getting more and more restless, and I realized I may be too stressed to pee, so let them all go home. Within minutes, I peed. (I know that does not sound that significant, but since my intestines had been rerouted, it was nice to know that peeing was still a valid option.)

Then the other good news was that I had diarrhea! Yeah! (Again, that may not sound like a thrilling thing, but with this type of surgery, having any movement this early is a great sign.)

Day three came and I was double checked if I was still fine. I was now on different meds, but still a bit out of it. Pastor Allen came by and we talked for a while… he stated the other day that I was quite lucid for the narcotics I was on… really I do not remember much of our conversation… but I am sure it was stimulating as usual. = )

I was getting ready to pack up and go, when Casey showed up (another Vineyard friend). Casey helped me get dressed and pack things up. I was then wheeled out to the car and came home.

The first few days were hard. I had to use a cane to aid myself in getting out of bed. Mostly, I slept and then rose to walk a bit and then slept some more. I thought I was going to get a ton of reading done, yet it seemed the narcotics were still doing a number on me so I was not able to concentrate long enough to read. I also accidently doubled my meds and had he worst itching sensation all over my body. I thought the itching was worse than the pain! Finally, I realized I had been taking too much of my meds and took the right dosage which helped stop the itching. I guess I will never be a good drug addict. And oh yeah… there was diarrhea… but you may not want to know much more about that.

At the end of week, one I was on Tylenol, and clear liquids. I now don’t need the Tylenol, and have moved on to liquids… and today, Saturday I just could not take it anymore and had my first solids… scrabbled eggs.

Some of you followed me on Facebook.com throughout this. If you go back a bit you will find some posts where I seemed to repeat words or may not have made much sense… (Almost like a normal day for me) and well, those are the days.

I am improving day by day. I started out around 7 months ago weighing in at 320lbs, last time I weighed I was 292… that was a few days ago so I expect I have lost even more. I was able to even get into size 40 pants… though 42 still fit better. I also seem to be having better blood sugars which was the goal of all of this.

Let's try to over whelm Skype on Saterday March 20th.

Clear you schedules for Saturday March 20th at 10am MST (we also have DST) to see if we can overwhelm Skype. This is a test to see how many people can be on Skype at one time.

I am planning some panel discussions in the future with active audiences. Meaning if all works out and we can get about 10 people we will have a panel discussion/interview with about 3 or 4 people and an audience of the remaining number Skype and hold. Saturday is just for fun and experimenting.

Once I figure this out I can also see if authors or other figures of influence want to do group discussions this way. It will be first come first serve. The first step will be sending me a message via either FB or my blog and I will tell you my Skype name.

BTW if that time does not fit, we can move it earlier of later... it depends on how many need the change.

Prophetic voices from unexpected sources: Salvation ~ Elton John

Salvation performed by Elton John

I have to say my friends

This road goes a long, long way

And if we're going to find the end

We're gonna need a helping hand

I have to say my friends

We're looking for a light ahead

In the distance a candle burns

Salvation keeps the hungry children fed



It's gotta take a lot of salvation

What we need are willing hands

You must feel the sweat in your eyes

You must understand salvation



A chance to put the devil down

Without the fear of hell

Salvation spreads the gospel round

And free you from yourself

What if Jesus really meant all that stuff ~ Shane Claiborne

To all my nonbelieving, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing friends: I feel like I should begin with a confession. I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians. Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives. I am sorry that so often we have forgotten the Christ of our Christianity.

Forgive us. Forgive us for the embarrassing things we have done in the name of God.

~ Shane Claiborne

To read the rest of the article

Thanks to Steve Lay for pointing this out.

Why I am not a Calvinist

First have some humor about the pictures will ya? It is not my fault how Calvinists are perceived!

Giving credit where it is due http://thedissidentblog.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/motivational-poster-calvinism/

I was a hard core Arminian, but when I found Grace (or God showed me His Grace) it screwed me up. I was told I was "Calvinist" in my ideas (Except for free will) and so I did some research on it. Of all people, James White convinced me I could not be a Calvinist... LOL! I think that is funny. It is not the gymnastics to make John 3:16 fit the theology that convinced me, it was that when I read the teachings of Calvinists... such as one is spiritually dead so they cannot hear God, and I read in Genesis where Adam not only hears God after eating the fruit, but (being spiritually dead) interacts with God... as well as Cain and many other "spiritually dead" individuals. I also could not get past how, if we are totally depraved, that God hands us over to a depraved mind as Romans teaches... How can a totally depraved person be more depraved? I ask these questions and get numerous answers, but all of them miss the point or are answered in a "double speak" that rivals Mormonism.

Now, don't get me wrong, I read Calvin and have gained some great insight, yet what I see in his teachings see remote from modern day "TULIP" that defines Calvinism today.

I hold theology like water. Water does it job, it seeps in to place it should and should not go. It flows sweetly at times and at times is a tsunami... yet, I do not hold to theology like a brick wall that must be built to keep others out or myself restrained. That is religion... God wants a flowing relationship not a static reading to the living word. God wants to wrestle, fight, hate, argue, love, struggle, doubt, have certainty, trust, question, and most of all be honest with Him and in turn ourselves. To me, if a theology keeps God at bay or makes God too small then it may not be a good theology. Likewise though, there are some things I see that are straightforward in scripture... but then even those are up to debate by others... In a way, our relationship with God is like any other relationship... it has ups and downs but do be alive and to learn how to be fully human, to me, that is what it takes to learn how to love and trust God. The final thing about my theology is this. I am the sick one in need of a Dr. while God knows what is going on. He is God and I am not... and to me that is the start of understanding what the relationship is about.

As far as some "good" Calvinists... check out Steve Brown... for all my griping about Calvinists, there are a couple left out there who give me hope for the rest...

Please help keep iggyROCKS! on the air.

It is that time of year again... time to raise money to keep the station going. Personally, I hate to even ask for support, but that does not seem to be the way it goes. God has used this little station in ways I could not even imagined years ago when I started it as just a hobby. I have found people from many different countries that listen and am amazed that though little in size, iggyROCKS! has a global presence. I have even noticed from the statistics that iggyROCKS! is sneaking into countries that "Christian" stations are not allowed. While I do not want to put down other mega stations, (those stations have their place) their cost is in the multi millions! Meanwhile the cost to keep iggyROCKS! is around $500 a year. Image, per dollar and a global outreach versus multi millions of dollars, that by supporting iggyROCKS! with little cost, how much more your money does.

I believe the reason iggyROCKS! has grown and become what it has is do to the reason we stay true to music and teaching and entertaining shows. The music played most likely will not be heard on many stations, and often is by unsigned artists that would never get airplay otherwise. The teaching is picked purposely to create discussion and thought to add deminsion to a person's faith. The shows are picked to entertain, teach about faith in Jesus and to point out new music.

All we need to cover costs this year is $250. Please pray and consider helping if you can.

Blessings!

To donate

1 Corinthians 3:1-15... with a twist

http://www.agnusday.org/comics/13/1-corinthians-123-13

1 Corinthians 3

1-4But for right now, friends, I'm completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You're acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I'll nurse you since you don't seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything's going your way? When one of you says, "I'm on Luther's side," and another says, "I'm for Calvin," aren't you being totally infantile?

5-9Who do you think John MacArthur is, anyway? Or Brian McLaren, for that matter? Servants, both of them—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. Augustine planted the seed, Rob Bell watered the plants, but God made you grow. It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God's field in which we are working.

9-15Or, to put it another way, you are God's house. Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, Calvin designed blueprints; Brian McLaren is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. (A twist on The Message)

Romans 1:18-23

 ^18-23But God's angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand. (Romans 1:18-23, The Message)

The countdown to... Gastric Bypass Surgery

I have struggled with my health for quite a while now. I was officially diagnosed with diabetes about 12 years ago and have never been able to get a real handle on it. I have tried different doctors who will try this or that... believe me I have heard them say, "This will probably give you good results." and find it does for about three months and then whatever it is stops.

I have had neuropathy, major back pain (often accentuated by the medications), and other complications attributed to diabetes. In the end, nothing seems to help and the pain in my back seems not to allow me to exercise enough to make a real difference.

The bottom line is this. As I have studied out new possibilities to aid me in my fight against my diabetes (that seems to be winning), I kept reading about how gastric bypass has help many diabetics. Part of the issue with my diabetes is I am insulin resistant. In fact, I take dosages that would even kill most diabetics and still cannot get it under control. Therefore I get in these cycles of taking high insulin to get my blood sugar down, which then triggers my hunger (insulin triggers the hunger). Therefore, I eat, and get high blood sugar and, wash, rinse and repeat. The result is I have gone from a svelte 217 pounds to 320 and miserable to boot!

The thing is, in my reading I found that what happens is that when one has gastric bypass, the body goes into shock (it should it major surgery) and then recalibrates itself and often diabetics can get off insulin. Personally, I would be happy with a major reduction in my dosage, as I do not expect to get totally off insulin. I do hope that since I am restricted in the amount I can eat, that it will aid in keep me from falling into the cycle I keep getting in and help reduce the weight I have gained.

This Friday is the day I start my liquid fast before the surgery. I am a bit scared in doing this, yet I see this as the way to regain my health and just maybe, live longer. I just ask for prayer in all this. The consultation with the surgeon is on March 3rd and the surgery is on March 8th.

Believe me I know all the horror stories… so please don’t post them here unless they are about you and your personal surgery. I do not want second hand horror stories. I also know many successes. If you had the surgery, feel free to tell your story or link to your blog.

Again, this is about my health… not about vanity. I mean, I am already damn good looking. = )

"Stay tuned" you prisoners of polluted politics

On Friday 19th February 2010, @lissnup said:

reply #IranElection "Stay tuned" you prisoners of polluted politics as you queue for the toilet, buttocks clenched tight against your blood-flecked diarrhea, against being taken away, against the baton, not knowing which might come for you.

Help is coming. Someone will write a very long letter, very soon. If you're really lucky they might remember to mention your plight and that of thousands of others like you.

What's that? No one knows where you are? They told you your family, you friends are all dead and you're next? Just stay tuned anyway. I'm sure some important people will be having tea together again soon. Very soon.

 

http://tl.gd/ab3fq

 
 

Please consider helping

Please consider this opportunity this summer to help out at Afayo Uganda Foundation. If you are interested let me know and I will connect you to Ivan to work out the details. Also, there is a donation button on this site (the second one). If you donate, please send me a note so I can keep track of where the money came from.

Hello Carlos,

Praise Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God. Hope all is well with you. I know it has been sometime without hearing from us but its all because of the turbulence we have been going through as a ministry.

I am of the request, that if it would be possible, we would organize a fundraiser for the tuition of the children. We need US$ 1151 towards this alone.

Secondly, we need some volunteers or missionaries who would be willing to serve with us for sometime maybe this summer or earlier. They should be willing to serve with the administration as well as in the village. Whenever you have or can find someone who is willing or wishing to come over to Africa to serve with us; that will be awesome.

Concerning the website, it’s in its final stages of designing and we will need to raise some funds for the hosting which is about US$95.

As soon as we realize this, the website will be up in just the next 24 hours.

We still don’t have power and internet at the office. So whenever i get time to write to you, I do so.

Hope to hear from you soon.

God bless you so much.

Ivan

What if you become what you believe?

What if your ideas and belief in God, makes you ultimately like that God? What if, you become what you believe? What if your belief is in an angry God who only is concerned with justice, instead of a God of compassion who is willing to forgive yet still will give justice to those who do not choose to live in that forgiveness and find new life?

Will their view and belief in God as angry not reflect in how they treat others? God is love. Love knows not fear. Fear has to do with punishment, yet if one believes that God will punish them, are not be perfected in love. Instead of loving their enemies, they seek vengeance. They even justify that somehow they battle against flesh and blood though the bible is clear that is not where our battle lies.

However, what if the ultimate vengeance is forgiving your enemies, and forcing them to choose to let your forgiveness become their reality, which takes humility and the other choice is to reject your forgiveness and letting their pride become their shame and end?

I am emerging because...

Bruce Reyes Chow sent out this challenge on Twitter: ""I am emergence" post coming today. Want in? In 140 WORDS or less, blog/FB about it WITHOUT defining by what you are NOT and I'll link back."

I am emerging because:

I love God, through Jesus Christ.

I affirm that Jesus was birth through the Virgin Mary, lived life as a human being, died on the Cross, to take away all humankind’s sin, was buried for three days and rose again on the third.

Jesus ascended and entered the Heavenly realm.

Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God that was, and is.

Jesus is the first-fruit of the bodily resurrection and the New Creation that is, and is to come.

Jesus demolished all walls that divide humankind and there is no longer male/female, slave/free, Jew/Gentile, or us/them.

We are to love all people with the unconditional love of God.

We are to question the status quo as Jesus did and to seek justice.

emerging is the eternal conversation started with God at the beginning of creation and continues today in believers.

Norman Geisler: Why I am not a 5 point Calvinist parts 8 - 9

http://www.youtube.com/user/AMomentOfTruth123

Norman Giesler: Why I am not a 5 Point Calvinist parts 5 - 7

http://www.youtube.com/user/AMomentOfTruth123

Norman Geisler: Why I am not a 5 Point Calvinist parts 3 - 4

http://www.youtube.com/user/AMomentOfTruth123

Norman Geisler: Why I am not a 5 point Calvinist parts 1 and 2

http://www.youtube.com/user/AMomentOfTruth123

Repost: Some Advise for Handling Critics

Some Advise for Handling Critics.






1. Rejoice! Mat 5: 11. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13. "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

2. Give no answer (I am working on this one) Mark 14: 56. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree. 57. Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58. "We heard him say, `I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.'" 59. Yet even then their testimony did not agree. 60. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" 61. But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"

3. Let Christ’s light shine through. Acts 6:13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us." 15. All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

4. Keep Serving the Lord and let the false accusers come to their own end. For God is faithful. 2 Cor 11: 12. And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

5. Live in the freedom of Christ and do not give in to the false accuser. Gal 2: 4. [This matter arose] because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. 6. As for those who seemed to be important--whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance--those men added nothing to my message.

6. Do not give into the meaningless chatter of your accusers. Leave them in their falsehood.1 Tim 6:20. Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21.which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.

7. My final advice is this Forgive and pray for your enemies… and love them. Matt 5: 43. "You have heard that it was said, `Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45. that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

This site also has some good ideas on conflict resolution.

Blessings,

iggy

A Sermon for Discernment Folks... and for the rest of us also.

Conflict Resolution from Northland Church on Vimeo.

Thanks to Brian McLaren for pointing this out on his blog.

One degree of seperation

I was thinking that there is only one degree of separation between a Calvinist and a Christian Universalist... and that is limited atonement. However both miss that we are not saved by the Cross but by the Resurrection. We are not saved by Jesus' death, but by His Life imparted to us. If you equate forgiveness and salvation, you end up with error... and that is the error of both CU and Calvinists.

Calvin equated forgiveness and salvation, and in that saw the logical step of Universalism... yet could not accept Universalism so created Limited Atonement. Yet, if one understand that forgiveness was only part of the salvic equation, and that though one is forgiven, without the Life of Christ they are still dead. For the Life is in the Son. The living risen Son.

Matisyahu - King Without A Crown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsFpUW48Tnc




- Matisyahu Lyrics

Read more: http://www.metrolyrics.com/scroller_wide.php?lyricid=2147429140#ixzz0eVez0gX8

Pete Rollins – Resurrection as Insurrection

Not that I agree or disagree... but it is truly thought provoking.

What we believe emanates from who we are. And who we are is not about dogma, or even about moral behavior, but about dying to ourselves. This is part of the conversation between ThinkFwd host, Spencer Burke, and Pete Rollins, author of How Not to Speak of God and The Orthodox Heretic. They explore the ideas of truth and God, of resurrection and insurrection.

Truth, says Rollins, is not one extreme or the other; it’s not the middle of the extremes. Truth is at both extremes. While traditional Christians say, “God is present. God exists, and Christianity is true;” atheists say “God isn’t there and Christianity isn’t true.” These two extremes push Rollins to explore a 3rd position and he likens it to the story of Jesus on the cross, when He felt forsaken by God– God not present–and yet God was completely present. And so the 3rd position dwells in the very place in between. Rollins says Christians are called to dwell not on one side of the other, but in the very split that Christ opens up: between old and new; between Judaism and Christianity.

Click here to continue reading: