Author Archives: John Paine

About John Paine

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This blog is topical and devotional--we post whatever interests us, whenever. If you want to follow in an orderly fashion, please see our Kaqexeß page.
August 14, 2013

Grace & Truth (& Distractions)

By John Paine

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:16-17 (NIV84)

Being a blogger is a lot like being a fisherman—lines in the water all over the place, always fishing for material to share.  I learn a lot.

One of the places I like to go fishing is in podcasts, listening to the likes of William Lane Craig, the scholars at Reasons To Believe, Andy Stanley, and Dick Woodward while commuting.  But this summer I agreed to read straight through the Old Testament, and that meant weeks of listening to the reading of all 39 books.  No podcasts—just reading through the Bible (an essential prerequisite for personal discipleship).

Finally, I reached the end of Malachi and the next day it was time for something new.  I really missed the podcasts, so I pulled out my iPhone and ran through some favorite podcast libraries, settling almost randomly on an Andy Stanley sermon entitled, “When Gracie Met Truthy.”  It’s a really powerful message on what it means to be a ‘Christian’, and I couldn’t wait to share it here on Veracity.

So here you go.  Click on the image below, then click on the video that appears and listen to some very fine homiletics.

When Gracie Met Truthy

Sometimes Less Is More

But…when I sat down to link everything up for this post, a simple Google search produced a lot more than I bargained for.  It turns out this is THE controversial sermon Andy Stanley preached on August 15th, 2012.  You know, the one where he made an illustration about a messy situation involving homosexuality and adultery.  The rocks started flying in the blogosphere, and even some big names weighed in on the attack. Continue reading

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in The Gospels

August 3, 2013

Dr. Bell’s Submarine Chaser

By John Paine

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
Romans 1:19-21 (ESV)

Bell Hydrofoil

Alexander Graham Bell’s HD-4 “Submarine Chaser” Hydrofoil. Constructed in 1919, it set a marine speed record that remained unbroken for two decades.


 
I read a very touching letter this week—from one of the Twentieth century’s most inspiring women to one of mankind’s most brilliant pioneers. By any measure, Helen Keller and Alexander Graham Bell were truly remarkable people.

“Dear Dr. Bell, it would be such a happiness to have you beside me in my picture-travels! As in real journeys you have often made the hours short and free from ennui, so in the drama of my life, your eloquent hand in mine, you make the way bright and full of interest, give to misfortune an undertone of hope and courage that will assist many others beside myself to the very end.”
Helen Keller letter to Alexander Graham Bell, July 5th, 1918

Alexander Graham Bell and Hellen Keller

Helen Keller and Bell “finger spelling,” August 29th, 1901.

For someone saddled with blindness and deafness, who was disappointed by her own speech, Helen Keller had a profoundly beautiful and powerful voice.  Her letter to Bell is affectionate, expressing deep love and gratitude.  But when she writes “your eloquent hand in mine,” she is alluding to something that surpassed a simple display of affection—she and Bell conversed through “finger spelling.” Continue reading

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Topics

July 27, 2013

Bible Infographics

By John Paine

Sometimes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  Sometimes a picture can convey more truth than words.  Sometimes a picture helps reinforce a thousand words.  We use lots of pictures on Veracity—art, photographs, videos, and infographics.

Here are just a few examples of good Bible infographics.  Click on the images and hyperlinks to visit the sites of these amazingly creative folks.  You’ll find some real gems if you take a little time to explore the content.

Visual Unit

New Testament Reliability
Continue reading

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Tools

July 17, 2013

Examples and Warnings

By John Paine
  • These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
    1 Corinthians 10:11 (NIV84)
Kisses

Essential Tools

Melinda Penner has a poignant observation on the Stand to Reason blog this morning, about a recent post by Rachael Slick—the daughter of apologist Matt Slick, the founder of CARM.

CARM is one of the sites I use frequently in my devotional research. I value their work, and respect their opinions. Sometimes they make me uneasy, but that’s Veracity—we don’t have to accept everything someone thinks, or their style, to benefit from their example or teaching. We’re about sharing resources, not telling people what to think.

Rachael Slick’s post, describing her upbringing and journey into atheism, is undoubtedly heartbreaking for her parents. As Melinda Penner notes, the post is one-sided. That it garnered over 2,300 comments in two days on the atheist channel of Patheos.com demonstrates the voracity of atheist sentiments in our culture. (If we accept the Great Commission and are laboring only in fields full of Christians, here’s a wake-up call.)

Melinda’s observation is that there is no Gospel in Rachael Slick’s story. How anyone can learn 800 Bible verses and all the apologetic doctrine she describes without getting the Gospel is…(I don’t have an adequate adjective).

Dick Woodward has a lot to say about examples and warnings in the Bible. A few months ago, Dick and I were talking about Matthew 23 and the Law of God. Dick made the point that, “The Law of God must always be run through the Love of God.”

I couldn’t help thinking about those words as I read Rachael Slick’s story. I’m not judging Matt Slick and the way he raised his family. I will take this example and apply it to the relationships in my life, particularly where I have a tendency to make a point or press an agenda without stopping to love the other person first. One more time for my own edification—I will try to do better at loving the other person first.

The Apostle John quoted Jesus, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35, NIV84). The Apostle Paul put it even more strongly, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself though love” (Galatians 5:6b, NIV84).

Thank you Rachael Slick for the example and warning—not about how you or your dad might have messed up, but about how less important an agenda is compared to a heart.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Witnesses

July 5, 2013

How Do We Know the Old Testament is Valid?

By John Paine

Codex Sinaiticus

Photo Credit: CodexSinaiticus.org


 
I’ve been reading the Old Testament straight through, struggling at times with the accounts reported in the ancient texts.  Admittedly, if someone at a party started telling these stories we’d all think they were loony.

There are essentially three possible pronouncements for the passages in the OT that are represented as factual, either:

  1. They are fictional and/or fraudulent, or
  2. They are (wholly or partly) allegorical and not meant to be taken literally, or
  3. The miraculous is in play and the historical accounts are correct.

There is no half-off sale in Christianity—we can’t have the New Testament without the Old.  Some poor souls work themselves into torturous and indefensible theological positions by cherry picking which parts of Scripture they accept and which ones they discount as allegorical.  Some of them even show up on documentaries wearing clerical collars, affiliated with organizations that have ‘Jesus’ or books of the Bible in their name.  Hmmm…. It’s best to think it through yourself.

Is our faith based merely on the hope that the OT is valid, or is there some intelligent basis of assurance? Continue reading

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Apologetics