How would you answer these questions?:
Does God exist?
And, isn't Christianity just an emotional experience?
Why am I asking? Because I had the opportunity to answer these very questions. Care to read how I answered? CBN.com published two more of my articles last week. Here are the links where you can find them:
Does God Exist?
http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/evangelism/Butts_Does_God_Exist.aspx
Isn't Christianity Just an Emotional Experience?
http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/evangelism/Butts_Christianity_Emotional_Experience.aspx
If you missed the first article, CBN.com published it February 13th. Here's the link:
Why Did Jesus Die for Man's Sins?
http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/evangelism/Butts_Why_Jesus_Died.aspx
Monday, February 25, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Knight Rider ( Gag )
Did any of you watch the two-hour movie of the new Knight Rider Monday night?
My husband and I enjoyed the original TV series back in the '80s and were looking forward to this movie and the coming new TV series, so we watched.
In one of the opening scenes, a female FBI agent (Carrie Ruvai, played by Sydney Tamiia Poitier) is getting ready for work and there is a naked lady in her bed. ( Ga... Ga... ) In their brief conversation, the naked bed-mate asks if the FBI agent isn't concerned about leaving someone in her home whom she just met last night.
Oh...okay. So we not only have a lesbian relationship, it's also a just-met-last-night and went-home-and-got-naked first-date-sex relationship. (I was going to call it a "one night stand" but I have no idea if that's what it will turn out to be.)
The FBI agent said, "No," and left for work.
Now come on. ( Gag. ) Was that scene necessary to the story?
No. Not at all.
It seems the show (on NBC) only wanted to establish a lesbian character in the show. It didn't have anything to do with the story.
I guess it's just fashionable to have lesbian and gay characters in shows and movies right now. Okay, Hollywood, you've made your statement. This has been going on for a while now. Can we say it has run its course, grow up, and move on now? (I doubt it.)
As I watch shows like Knight Rider with gay and lesbian characters and one-night-stands and first-date sex, it feels like Hollywood is shoving its beliefs down my throat. ( G-g-gag. ) It doesn't go down very well. It gets stuck. It's hard to swallow.
We Christians often get accused of shoving our religion down other people's throats. (Some consider even the mention of God or Jesus Christ as shoving our religion down their throats.) But Hollywood doesn't seem to see that writing sex anytime, anywhere, with anyone into their shows is shoving their views down my throat. ( G-g-gag. )
We invite TV into our home. If Knight Rider continues to shove its anything-goes sexual stuff ( g-gag ) down our throats ( g-g-gag ), it won't continue to be invited into our home.
Is this ( ga... ga... ) what my cat feels like ( g-ga... ) when she has a hairball? (G- G- GYACK!)
My husband and I enjoyed the original TV series back in the '80s and were looking forward to this movie and the coming new TV series, so we watched.
In one of the opening scenes, a female FBI agent (Carrie Ruvai, played by Sydney Tamiia Poitier) is getting ready for work and there is a naked lady in her bed. ( Ga... Ga... ) In their brief conversation, the naked bed-mate asks if the FBI agent isn't concerned about leaving someone in her home whom she just met last night.
Oh...okay. So we not only have a lesbian relationship, it's also a just-met-last-night and went-home-and-got-naked first-date-sex relationship. (I was going to call it a "one night stand" but I have no idea if that's what it will turn out to be.)
The FBI agent said, "No," and left for work.
Now come on. ( Gag. ) Was that scene necessary to the story?
No. Not at all.
It seems the show (on NBC) only wanted to establish a lesbian character in the show. It didn't have anything to do with the story.
I guess it's just fashionable to have lesbian and gay characters in shows and movies right now. Okay, Hollywood, you've made your statement. This has been going on for a while now. Can we say it has run its course, grow up, and move on now? (I doubt it.)
As I watch shows like Knight Rider with gay and lesbian characters and one-night-stands and first-date sex, it feels like Hollywood is shoving its beliefs down my throat. ( G-g-gag. ) It doesn't go down very well. It gets stuck. It's hard to swallow.
We Christians often get accused of shoving our religion down other people's throats. (Some consider even the mention of God or Jesus Christ as shoving our religion down their throats.) But Hollywood doesn't seem to see that writing sex anytime, anywhere, with anyone into their shows is shoving their views down my throat. ( G-g-gag. )
We invite TV into our home. If Knight Rider continues to shove its anything-goes sexual stuff ( g-gag ) down our throats ( g-g-gag ), it won't continue to be invited into our home.
Is this ( ga... ga... ) what my cat feels like ( g-ga... ) when she has a hairball? (G- G- GYACK!)
Friday, February 15, 2008
Dianne's Article on CBN.com
CBN.com has posted my article answering the question "Why Did Jesus Die for Man's Sins?" on their site. Here's the link:
http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/evangelism/Butts_Why_Jesus_Died.aspx
Enjoy!
http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/evangelism/Butts_Why_Jesus_Died.aspx
Enjoy!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
What is a Christian? - 6 "The Golden Rule"
The week before last I was listening to a familiar talk show host on a Denver radio station as he interviewed an author. The two of them discussed a "rule" that is human nature.
"The Golden Rule," they said, is "I scratch your back; you scratch mine."
Uh...excuse me. That's not The Golden Rule.
The Golden Rule comes out of the Bible (Luke 6:31) and goes like this: "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (For those of us who were taught The Golden Rule years ago, it has more of a King James flavor. We learned it like this: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.")
This nowhere near "I scratch your back; you scratch mine"!
"I scratch your back; you scratch mine" is reciprocal. If you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. If you help me, I'll help you. If I do something for you, then you'll do something for me, right?
The talk show host and his author-guest were right in saying this is human nature, but this is not the same as The Golden Rule.
The Golden Rule is quite the opposite. It goes against human nature. It says, "I want people to treat me well, therefore I'll treat you well."
Did you notice there is nothing in there that bases how I treat you on your behavior? How I treat others is not dependant on how they treat me. It starts with me...and my choices. The Golden Rule says, "I will treat you well regardless of how you treat me." This is anything but "I scratch your back; you scratch mine." This goes against human nature.
But then Jesus did that a lot--asking us to do what is directly against human nature. It's upside-down from what we would normally do. That's because the way we do things is corrupted by sin. In other words, it's not God's way that is upside-down. His way is right-side up. It's us who are upside-down.
God set the ultimate example in The Golden Rule. He does not treat us as we treat Him. He does not ignore us or treat us with disrespect. Instead He gave us the ultimate gift, the sacrifice we needed to pay for our sins. He didn't do this after we started treating Him nice. He did it while we hated Him.
And that truth just stands there. It's there whether people ignore it or disrespect it. God did not scratch our back because we did something for Him. Nor did He do something for us so we would be obligated to scratch His back--to do something for Him. He did it for us regardless of how we treat Him.
"The Golden Rule," they said, is "I scratch your back; you scratch mine."
Uh...excuse me. That's not The Golden Rule.
The Golden Rule comes out of the Bible (Luke 6:31) and goes like this: "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (For those of us who were taught The Golden Rule years ago, it has more of a King James flavor. We learned it like this: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.")
This nowhere near "I scratch your back; you scratch mine"!
"I scratch your back; you scratch mine" is reciprocal. If you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. If you help me, I'll help you. If I do something for you, then you'll do something for me, right?
The talk show host and his author-guest were right in saying this is human nature, but this is not the same as The Golden Rule.
The Golden Rule is quite the opposite. It goes against human nature. It says, "I want people to treat me well, therefore I'll treat you well."
Did you notice there is nothing in there that bases how I treat you on your behavior? How I treat others is not dependant on how they treat me. It starts with me...and my choices. The Golden Rule says, "I will treat you well regardless of how you treat me." This is anything but "I scratch your back; you scratch mine." This goes against human nature.
But then Jesus did that a lot--asking us to do what is directly against human nature. It's upside-down from what we would normally do. That's because the way we do things is corrupted by sin. In other words, it's not God's way that is upside-down. His way is right-side up. It's us who are upside-down.
God set the ultimate example in The Golden Rule. He does not treat us as we treat Him. He does not ignore us or treat us with disrespect. Instead He gave us the ultimate gift, the sacrifice we needed to pay for our sins. He didn't do this after we started treating Him nice. He did it while we hated Him.
And that truth just stands there. It's there whether people ignore it or disrespect it. God did not scratch our back because we did something for Him. Nor did He do something for us so we would be obligated to scratch His back--to do something for Him. He did it for us regardless of how we treat Him.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Presidential Election Questions
Yesterday Mitt Romney stepped out of the Presidential race. My, things can change fast.
I respect Mr. Romney for taking this step. He looked at the numbers and knew he couldn't get enough delegates to win the nomination. Would staying in have created a three-way split diluting votes among Republicans so none would have a strong showing? Not a problem now since Mr. Romney suspended his campaign.
What will Mr. Huckabee do? As third in this previously three-way race, what now? Will he stay in? (For what reason? He couldn't possibly get enough delegates to get the nomination either, right?)
So if Mr. McCain has the nomination, who will he pick for a Vice President running mate? Mr. Romney? Mr. Huckabee?
From speculations I've heard, there have already been "back room discussions" between McCain and Huckabee. If true, that could be revealing.
I've also heard Mr. Huckabee isn't nearly as conservative as some of us would like. That's more obvious with Mr. McCain and his voting record. If they run together, can they win enough conservative votes to beat Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama?
I'm also hearing many conservatives--both leaders and ordinary voters-- saying if McCain is nominated they won't vote at all. After being told all my life by leaders such as these that we need to vote... Our vote is important... Every vote counts... Voting is one of the most important things we can do... Now many conservatives are vowing not to vote?! Is this hypocritical?
What will I do? I will do what I've always done: vote for the candidate I think is the BEST to run this country. I have never had a candidate I thought was perfect to vote for. More often than not I have cast my vote against someone rather than for someone else. But we don't get to design our perfect candidate. We can only choose the available one that's closest to what we want. For me, this will be the Republican candidates--whoever they will be.
I think all the excitement and attention toward this Presidential race is good. It gets people involved and causes people who normally wouldn't to pay attention. Many people, I'm sure, won't want to hear all the bickering and will turn it off. That's the danger.
But remember, even when it looks like everything is out of control, God is still in control. It may look like it's all a big to-do down here on earth--and it is. But God's not worried. He's got it all figured out. So when our human striving and fretting and bickering and worrying gets out of hand, He feels our pain, but He's not worried. At times I think He shakes His head and laughs at our lack of faith in Him.
Wait. Did you hear that? I thought I just heard someone chuckling...
I respect Mr. Romney for taking this step. He looked at the numbers and knew he couldn't get enough delegates to win the nomination. Would staying in have created a three-way split diluting votes among Republicans so none would have a strong showing? Not a problem now since Mr. Romney suspended his campaign.
What will Mr. Huckabee do? As third in this previously three-way race, what now? Will he stay in? (For what reason? He couldn't possibly get enough delegates to get the nomination either, right?)
So if Mr. McCain has the nomination, who will he pick for a Vice President running mate? Mr. Romney? Mr. Huckabee?
From speculations I've heard, there have already been "back room discussions" between McCain and Huckabee. If true, that could be revealing.
I've also heard Mr. Huckabee isn't nearly as conservative as some of us would like. That's more obvious with Mr. McCain and his voting record. If they run together, can they win enough conservative votes to beat Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama?
I'm also hearing many conservatives--both leaders and ordinary voters-- saying if McCain is nominated they won't vote at all. After being told all my life by leaders such as these that we need to vote... Our vote is important... Every vote counts... Voting is one of the most important things we can do... Now many conservatives are vowing not to vote?! Is this hypocritical?
What will I do? I will do what I've always done: vote for the candidate I think is the BEST to run this country. I have never had a candidate I thought was perfect to vote for. More often than not I have cast my vote against someone rather than for someone else. But we don't get to design our perfect candidate. We can only choose the available one that's closest to what we want. For me, this will be the Republican candidates--whoever they will be.
I think all the excitement and attention toward this Presidential race is good. It gets people involved and causes people who normally wouldn't to pay attention. Many people, I'm sure, won't want to hear all the bickering and will turn it off. That's the danger.
But remember, even when it looks like everything is out of control, God is still in control. It may look like it's all a big to-do down here on earth--and it is. But God's not worried. He's got it all figured out. So when our human striving and fretting and bickering and worrying gets out of hand, He feels our pain, but He's not worried. At times I think He shakes His head and laughs at our lack of faith in Him.
Wait. Did you hear that? I thought I just heard someone chuckling...
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Super Tuesday in Colorado
It's Super Tuesday, and Colorado is among the 22 states holding a caucus or primary today. Since this is a political blog (among other topics), I should probably write something about politics, don't you think?
I hadn't yet because I'm just quietly watching all that is going on. The Presidential candidate I was leaning toward has already dropped out: Fred Thompson. A true conservative who said he wanted to engage people on the issues. What?! Not on personalities or gender or race or fluff?! My kind of guy. But with him now out of the race...What's a voter to do?
I have to admit some of the folks on my side of the aisle seem to be going a little crazy. Strong conservative Ann Coulter said the other day she would rather vote for Hillary Clinton than John McCain?! Please. Ann, I hope you're just being facetious (though it's hard to tell).
My problem with the remaining Republican candidates is that none of them are conservative enough for me. But I'd still vote for any of the Republican candidates over any of the Democratic ones. (Ann, please get your head screwed back on straight.)
So...I'm sitting back watching all the craziness. And I'll be very interested to see what happens today in Colorado and in the 21 other states.
But, in the end, am I worried about our nation? It's easy to let the debates and the arguing and the campaigning and the politics become overwhelming. And it's easy to let ourselves believe so much is at stake (...and it is). But in the midst of it all, God is in control.
Don't we tend to assume that if the political party of our choice gets into office, our nation will do better, and if the "other" political party gets into office our nation will go down the tubes? The truth is, God's plan for this world will play out in the end no matter which candidate and party wins the White House.
Here are some words I read just this morning:
God already knows what is going to happen today on Super Tuesday, at each party's national convention later this year, and at the election in November. And regardless of what humans do, His great plan for this world will still play out. So do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid.
Still, even though God is in control, this does not relieve any of us from doing our civic duty and doing the best we know how for the good of this nation. So pay attention and plan to vote.
I hadn't yet because I'm just quietly watching all that is going on. The Presidential candidate I was leaning toward has already dropped out: Fred Thompson. A true conservative who said he wanted to engage people on the issues. What?! Not on personalities or gender or race or fluff?! My kind of guy. But with him now out of the race...
I have to admit some of the folks on my side of the aisle seem to be going a little crazy. Strong conservative Ann Coulter said the other day she would rather vote for Hillary Clinton than John McCain?! Please. Ann, I hope you're just being facetious (though it's hard to tell).
My problem with the remaining Republican candidates is that none of them are conservative enough for me. But I'd still vote for any of the Republican candidates over any of the Democratic ones. (Ann, please get your head screwed back on straight.)
So...I'm sitting back watching all the craziness. And I'll be very interested to see what happens today in Colorado and in the 21 other states.
But, in the end, am I worried about our nation? It's easy to let the debates and the arguing and the campaigning and the politics become overwhelming. And it's easy to let ourselves believe so much is at stake (...and it is). But in the midst of it all, God is in control.
Don't we tend to assume that if the political party of our choice gets into office, our nation will do better, and if the "other" political party gets into office our nation will go down the tubes? The truth is, God's plan for this world will play out in the end no matter which candidate and party wins the White House.
Here are some words I read just this morning:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' ...I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe." Jesus, only hours before His arrest and crucifixion, followed three days later by His resurrection (John 14:27, 28, 29, NIV)
God already knows what is going to happen today on Super Tuesday, at each party's national convention later this year, and at the election in November. And regardless of what humans do, His great plan for this world will still play out. So do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid.
Still, even though God is in control, this does not relieve any of us from doing our civic duty and doing the best we know how for the good of this nation. So pay attention and plan to vote.
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