Westminster Confession of Faith

No Running!!!

As a child, I LOVED visiting the pool. Maybe a neighbor’s pool or summer camp, etc. Hot and humid South Carolina weather made the cool clear waters a wonderful respite.

Most pools we visited had some form of posted rules.

No running!
No diving!
No rough-housing, etc…

Often, breaking these rules led to the dreaded ‘time-out.’ All my friends playing and me sitting by mom or the life-guard watching… mournfully.

Had I been a more rebellious sort, I might have found that continued rule-breaking would lead to greater and greater penalties. Possibly, even, not being invited back.

In my immaturity, my view of the rules, or ‘law of the pool,’ was that it was restrictive. It seemed to needlessly curtail all the ‘fun!’ Pushing someone into the pool or chasing someone with a ‘rat-tail’ towel was a game!

As I grew older Continue reading “No Running!!!”

Aspartame vs. Honey

A number of months ago, I began using honey in my morning coffee instead of refined sugar. In fact, because we have bees, my wife began substituting honey in a number of places in our family’s diet.

Well, late last week I was refilling the ‘honey bear’ from a Mason jar full of my bees’ honey and had a convenient ‘spill.’ Of course, I licked it up… Hmmm.

Then it hit me, ‘this used to be the sweetest stuff on the planet!’ In fact, for thousands of years honey was the sweetest readily available ‘sugar’ on the planet. Only in the last century has man begun to use the laboratory and myriad chemicals to develop alternative sweeteners, aspartame being just one, as well as a plethora of intense flavors derived from all manner of bizarre stuff.

Not long ago I saw a ‘hell’evision program detailing the constant quest in the food industry for new and intense flavors to make whatever food substitute item more desirable, thus selling more product. And, ruining consumer’s health in the process.

My brain, taking those diverse pieces of information, as I licked up the spilled honey, suddenly made some interesting connections. Continue reading “Aspartame vs. Honey”

Puttin’ lipstick on a pig! A lil’ dab’ll do ya!

My, the lengths we go to to justify behaving like the world. Do we understand the damage it does to us and to our children?

Here is an invitation we received… followed by some thoughts.

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October 31, 2013 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm please join us at (redacted: A conservative church I once served in) for Reformation Celebration.

5:30-6:15 – Medieval Feast ( food for the family)

6:15-7:25 – Games: hayride, burning the bull, musical chairs, throwing ink wells @ Satan, fishers of men, thunderstorm

7:30-8:00 – Sanctuary: Nice (sic) Creed, Reformation Skit, singing, and Benediction

Wear a costume if you like Continue reading

By what standard?? Pray tell!

… I can tell you what is NOT the standard!!

The Westminster Confession of Faith is NOT the standard!!
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith is NOT the standard!!
The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church are NOT the standard!!
The Confessions of the Lutheran Church are NOT the standard!! ….

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15

The author of the book of Hebrews tells us that Messiah Y’shua was without sin. By what standard was this determination made?

the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. I John 2:3-6

The Apostle John tells us that if we abide in the Messiah, then we will ‘walk as He walked.’ We will ‘do as He did.’ By what standard did He walk/do?