Tag Archives: Augustine

May 25, 2013

Under the Hood

By John Paine

Head Gasket Repair

Push Rods and Rockers, 2008


 
I spent a couple of weeks writing this post, adding and removing parts, only to end up with an over-spiritualized, not-very-good penultimate result.  After some painful edits, how about I just get right to the point?

The original idea for this blog was to have a place for “Sharing resources that corroborate the Bible.”  While we remain quite committed to that theme, we’re finding our voice in a slightly different major chord.  Consequently we are changing the tag line for Veracity to “Sharing the Joy of Personal Discipleship.”

What is personal discipleship?  It’s an answer to the darkness of man we see all around us every day.  It’s keeping our eyes on the only thing that counts—faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6b, NIV84).  We define personal discipleship as the process in which a believer or seeker takes personal responsibility for investigating the claims and content of the Bible. Continue reading

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April 28, 2013

How to Handle the Curve

By John Paine

“If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”
Augustine of Hippo

Bob Feller

The Heater Makes History by Graig Kreindler, 2009


 
How do you respond when you’re sharing or discussing your faith, and the conversation suddenly tails off to the left or right? How do you handle the curve?

There has never been a shortage of people able to mangle Scripture to accommodate their particular worldview (or their missteps). I’m not talking about fielding the gibes of atheists or those holding anti-Christian sentiments—rather people who want to hold to the Bible, but feel that certain parts are more applicable than others. Or they misinterpret or misapply or over-extrapolate. An-eye-for-an-eye and all that. Often they’ll argue that certain ideas are culturally dated and need to be reinterpreted or reconsidered. Really?!

OK, before I ride that high horse, a little confession—there are some ethics in the Bible I might change if it were solely up to me. The world according to me. Sounds great, right? A chicken in every pot, and free high-speed Internet for all. Half off your tithe. While that may be a great way to get elected, it looks just like rebellion to a loving God. Continue reading

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