1: Q&A
Question: “When saying, ‘All human beings are both radically fallen yet made in the image and likeness of God’, does the law of non-contradiction not apply? I mean, I believe this, but philosophically one could argue that ‘A’ cannot be ‘A’ and ‘non-A’ at the same time and in the same relationship. I mean Sproul uses this to defend the doctrine of the Trinity in one of his books, saying that God is not three in ‘A’ and one in ‘A’, but one in ‘A’ and three in ‘B’. Help?”
My Answer: I believe it’s helpful to give proper accounting to the word “fallen”. This changes the sense of the two A’s. Created (before fall) in God’s image. Then a radically marred image-bearer (as a result of the fall). Both now still true at the same time, but in a different sense. This clears it up in my mind; I hope it does the same for you.
2: One of the Most Beautiful Performances Ever of Amazing Grace
It’s the most popular song of all time, but you’ve never heard it performed like this. Astonishing!
3: Repent of Lent?
How Spiritual Disciplines Can Be Bad for Your Soul.
4: What great testimonies.
5: This Mom Made the Selfless and Righteous Decision
Mom carrying baby without brain to term – to donate the organs.
6: Have You Been Asking the Wrong Question?
Why doesn’t God save everyone?
7: Even Tim Keller Can Be Correct
“All human beings are both radically fallen yet made in the image and likeness of God.”
“What is an idol? It is anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.”
“Christ is not about trying harder; it means transferring our trust away from ourselves and resting in Him.”
“Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts. It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them.”
8: Quotes From Other Pastors, Besides Tim Keller:
“In case you didn’t know this already, God’s not finished with you yet.” – Chuck Copeland
“A Christian worldview has a heart that breaks for those around us who don’t know Jesus.” – Paul Mundey
“What’s closest to your heart is what you talk about, and if God is close to your heart, you’ll talk about Him.” – A.W. Tozer
“The happiest people I know are not people who don’t have any needs, but people who experience the meeting of their needs by God.” – Maxie Dunnam
“Great lessons on daily bread from the manna in Exodus. Jesus is our true bread from heaven, and those who feed on Him will neither hunger nor thirst, but live forever.” – Brian Lee
“My father, Billy Graham… For well over 70 years he faithfully preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If there’s one message he would want you to hear today, it is that God loves you and wants you to be saved. When he no longer had the stamina to stand to preach just a few short years ago, he was still able to share the clear Gospel message through the video… called ‘The Cross.’ It has a powerful message about forgiveness and hope that comes only through the Cross of Christ.” – Franklin Graham
9: Quotes From the Letter to the Philippians:
“(Jesus Christ) humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” – Philippians 2:8
“Everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:8
“I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:13
10: This Post Ends with Five Links to Some Pages That are Either Interesting, Helpful, or Both
Ah, I remember when we all thought Ed Stetzer’s views could be trusted.
No… “Saul the Persecutor” Did Not Become “Paul the Apostle”
Iowa Committee Passes Bill to Ban Abortions and Call Unborn Children Human Beings
Congregation Sees Pastor’s C.S. Lewis Quote Coming From A Mile Away
POSTSCRIPT
The blog above was first published on the original version of this website. Since then the site has been completely reformatted and upgraded. With this change, the blogs needed to be re-uploaded to correct corruptions that occurred with the transition in 2023. While doing this, some additional information was added at the conclusion of many of the older blogs in a “postscript” section that might not have appeared in the first draft that was published on the first website. Think of this new content as “bonus material”.
Former Friends and Enemies
Scanning old Facebook posts and comments it is striking how many former “friends” I have (ever since the events of 2020 exposed those who haven’t yet recovered from being victims of the public education system). They pretended to be friends with really good acting.
One still current friend posted about Steve Bartman receiving a 2016 World Series ring from the Chicago Cubs. My friend responded to this news writing, “Complete redemption. Awesome.”
Not really. I pointed out: Not “complete”, unfortunately. Steve continues to feel the need to stay in hiding, it seems. So, no restoration of relationship. The team has shown him love, but until Steve feels the love of the fans, I remain saddened by the whole mess.
On a more positive note, a friend posted about growing old. I asked, “Is this a sneaky reference to Ezekiel 37?” Here’s the exchanged that ensued:
Friend: Dry Bones!!!!
Me: You are a very clever pastor.
Friend: I love you Troy!!!
Me: And I feel the love… all the way down into my bones.
(Boy oh boy do I miss the good old days of the innocent and playful social media interactions).
How Does Stuff Disappear?
I discovered that there were some old Faith Debate shows posted on YouTube. This was a happy discovery, but I had no idea how they got there. Something attention grabbing about these particular shows is that the panelists were Jonathan Switzer and Jace Broadhurst. This is interesting because these are the two men who were my partners one the show for approximately the first dozen (or baker’s dozen) years of the show’s existence. How fun is was to see us all on YouTube half-a-dozen years later. So, I went to grab the link to post the video here and it had been taken down. Bummer!
There were others that someone posted on YouTube, again without me knowing how this happened. These featured a longtime friend Tom Weil talking with me and Jon about the content of good preaching. The trip down memory lane caused Tom to say, “I remember that day. I was a bit shy/bashful for the first time in my life.” All I could say to that was, “You? Shy? Never!”
Fortunately there are plenty of other videos and audio podcasts available on a wide variety of platforms today. Most of them accessible through various portals on this very website. However, it’s amazing that there are so many other ways to access Faith Debate podcasts that I didn’t even know existed. Here’s another link to past shows. Does anyone know how it is that the Faith Debate ended up on this website?
Ripped From the Headlines
The headline reads, “Common Core Reinforced Not Teaching Cursive.” At first glance I thought, “But wait, there’s lots of cursing in school.” Then realized it said “cursive”. So, never mind. By the way the news item was about things right in good ole’ Maryland where the state continues to dumb down education. But hey, there are Chromebooks for everyone!
Another headline reads, “Report: Al Gore’s Home Uses 21x More Energy Than Average Household”. Talk about an inconvenient truth for Mr. Global Warming. Al Gore’s attitude appears to be: “The sky is falling!!! Just not on me.”
Yet another headline reads, “REALLY!? Twitter ‘Moment’ Shares Important Legal Reminder About Statue of Liberty Poem”. This is a lightning rod issue. And Glenn Beck is a human lightning rod. But I have always liked his reading of the poem.
Colin Kaepernick Petition
With the hash tag “#NoKaepernickNoNFL”, there was an effort circulating to “Boycott NFL Games if Colin Kaepernick Doesn’t Play This Season”.
The reality is that the employer did not fire him. He quit. He thought he could do better elsewhere. I guess he miscalculated. So, why rant against the employer and their hiring/firing practices when it seems like maybe the GM’s and owners were exercising their rights, just like Mr. Kaepernick. Colin had every right to do what he did. NFL teams had every right to do what they have so far done. Anyway, here’s what I posted on social media about this situation a few years ago:
Okay, so there’s this guy I know who needs your help. He started working for a company in California about six years ago. It was an okay gig, with him scraping by on only $4-million in his first three years. His bosses were pretty happy with his performance, though. So they gave him a small raise to about $13-million per year for the next three years. At least now he was above the poverty level. This past year he had a chance to stay with this company, but he opted out of his contract. Can’t blame him. He wanted the opportunity to prove he was worth more than the measly $44-million dollars his bosses gave him over his six years with the company. Anyway, (and here comes the really sad part) his gamble on himself didn’t pan out so well because his performance lagged the past couple of years. Plus, he did some stuff that some people think might have embarrassed his employer. So, now he’s unemployed. Real bummer. The good news is that some people who don’t even know him personally are circulating a petition to help him get back on his feet. Isn’t that nice? Who says there’s no longer a spirit to help the poor in this country? There is hope yet! I hope you’ll sincerely consider supporting the petition effort so that this down-and-out guy will be able to provide for his family and for his own basic needs. No one should be expected to live the rest of their life on just $44-million. So sad. So very, very sad.
I apparently had one fan back then. She commented under my post, “^^^this post is the best!!!!” Well, thanks for that. Support is always appreciated.
Many blessings to you,
Pastor Troy Skinner
