As I type this post I'm thinking of Ecclesiastes 3--if I'm honest, it's actually the Birds singing the song patterned after the text: To everything, turn, turn, turn; There is a season, turn, turn, turn; And a time to every... Continue reading

Ted Nugent endorsed Mitt Romney today via tweet: after a long heart&soul conversation with MittRomney today I concluded this good man will properly represent we the people & I endorsed him Yup. That'll do. Continue reading

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, DUO Read the book. Don't wait for the movie. The grass withers and the flowers fall, BUT the word of our God stands forever. We make the transition in our study from General Revelation to Special Revelation. You can look back to previous segments to review our coverage of God's general revelation--all that we see around us testifies of God. While that general revelation gives people enough of a testimony of God's existence to hold all accountable for their actions, it doesn't tell the rest of the story, providing people with the knowledge of their need of... Continue reading

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, DUO Read the book. Don't wait for the movie. The grass withers and the flowers fall, BUT the word of our God stands forever. We make the transition in our study from General Revelation to Special Revelation.... Continue reading

From the Heidelberg Catechism: Q11. BUT isn't God also merciful? A: God is certainly merciful, BUT he is also just. HIs justice demands that sin against his supreme majesty be punished with a supreme penalty--eternal punishment of body and soul. This reminds me of one of my favorite all-time movie lines. It comes from the Rambo movies. One of Rambo's antagonists confronts Colonel Troutman, "You speak of this Rambo like he's some sort of a god." Troutman replied, "No. God would have mercy on you. Rambo won't." As mentioned last time, we are turning a corner in the Catechism. We've... Continue reading

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Better Question ~ What's not on my mind? A week's worth of blog silence draws to an end because filing my taxes, filling our FAFSA forms for my daughters, rounding up scholarship... Continue reading

Monday's are off for me. Got to love that--the rest of the world loathes going back to the office, and I don't even set an alarm! Monday's afford me a little extra time to play with technology in my ongoing... Continue reading

KNOWLEDGE OF SELF A look in the mirror. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, BUT their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. General revelation accomplishes more than making us aware of God. It also provides us with a certain knowledge of ourselves. It begins by planting the questions, 'Where did I come from?' and 'How did I get here?' As a human being, wonder and awe at all we see compels us to ponder, 'What is this all about?' or as Sam asks Froto in The Lord... Continue reading

KNOWLEDGE OF SELF A look in the mirror. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, BUT their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. General revelation accomplishes more than... Continue reading

No buts in the lyric, but it fits the series based on buts, so... In the spirit of the Apostle Paul, in Acts 17, offering "as your own poets have said" in his sharing with the Athenians, I offer these beautifully poetic words from Chris Rice. Note particularly the words in the refrain, "There is no language where you can't be heard." A purple sky to close the day I wade the surf where dolphins play The taste of salt, the dance of waves And my soul wells up with hallelujahs A lightning flash, my pounding heart A breaching whale,... Continue reading

A mind is a terrible thing to baste. Ribs, however... Social Media ~ My workshop/discussion with local pastors about their use of Social Media this week went pretty well. My Big_Buts Twitter account is likely to surpass 2000 followers before... Continue reading

From the Heidelberg Catechism: Q8: BUT are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil? A: Yes, unless we are born again, by the Spirit of God. This appearance of but begins the question. It's a good idea to look back and see what preceded this conjunction. Question 6 explains that God created human beings good, so that they might know their God and walk with him. Question 7 explains that the fall of mankind changed all of that. "This fall has so poisoned our nature," it states, "that we are... Continue reading

Who is Jesus Christ? Was he a historical figure who lived and died, or is he still alive today? Was he a prophet, a rabbi, a moral example? Or was he who he claimed to be? And while we’re at it, just exactly who did he claim to be? Is he, because of his claims, as C.S. Lewis famously articulated on his BBC radio program and in his book Mere Christianity, necessarily either a Liar, a Lunatic, or the Lord? Is he the Jesus we see in old movies: A blue-eyed, white guy with a well-trimmed beard, who sort of... Continue reading

Who is Jesus Christ? Was he a historical figure who lived and died, or is he still alive today? Was he a prophet, a rabbi, a moral example? Or was he who he claimed to be? And while we’re at... Continue reading

In the spirit of the Apostle Paul, in Acts 17, offering "as your own poets have said" in his sharing with the Athenians, I offer these beautifully poetic words from Chris Rice. Note particularly the words in the refrain, "There... Continue reading

I’d suggest that the very first sentence in the Bible—the one that begins with the word Genesis—should prompt a big but in our thinking: But what about God? The text begins: In the beginning God created the heavens and the... Continue reading

Here's another nugget from history concerning the conjunction but. It was March of 1923. The 5th Pan American Conference was called to order in Santiago, Chile. The New York Times had declared that this conference promised to be the most important to date, as serious issues between South American countries were coming to a head, and Argentina, Brazil and Chile were in an arms race of sorts, mustering military muscle. President Warren G. Harding's contingent from the United States was headed by Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes. The United States' man, Hughes, was looked upon by ambassadors for the... Continue reading

Have you 'Googled' anything today? No? Have you tried to look anything up on Wikipedia today? Popular information websites, reportedly tens of thousands of them, are protesting today. Among the well-known, Google blackened it's banner and Wikipedia simply blackened their... Continue reading

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD So what do we know? Man does not live on bread alone, BUT on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. We tend to hear that verse and think of the setting in Matthew 4 where Jesus is being tempted. The reference, however, harkens back to Deuteronomy 8 where Moses is reminding the people that God allowed them to hunger and then provided manna from heaven, so that they would recognize He is what ultimately satisfies their longing. The passage we began with in the Introduction—Paul’s message to the people of Athens from Acts... Continue reading

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD So what do we know? Man does not live on bread alone, BUT on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. We tend to hear that verse and think of the setting in Matthew... Continue reading

Previously I've shared with you that 2011 was a great year in my life because it's the year I went Mac. I decided to launch into 2012 with an Apple sequel--my iPhone 4S arrived today. Let me be sure to... Continue reading

From the Heidelberg Catechism: Q1: What is your only comfort in life and in death? A: That I am not my own, BUT belong, body and soul, in life and in death--to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. That's a big catechismal but, I tell you. It's not enough to understand that I am not my own. Rather, comfort which transcends is enjoyed when we acknowledge that we belong to Christ. That's the important part of this Q&A. I am not my own, BUT I belong, rather, to Christ. The rest of the answer reads like this: He has fully paid... Continue reading

Eve of the NH Primary thoughts and ruminations. Proceed with caution. Tim Tebow ~ Oh let's get this out of the way before I wade into political waters. I love that the Tebow ride isn't over yet. I admit, I... Continue reading

INTRODUCTION The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth, and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and... Continue reading