Washington Post Book Reviews of Religion Books

Today's blog entry is a lot longer than what I usually write, but it's
about topics that merit the length...

The Sunday, December 16, 2007 Washington Post Book World section featured reviews of several books about religion.

I enjoy reading the book reviews in the Post each Sunday as they're well written and often the reviews are done by authors of the same genre. I often borrow books from my local library based on the reviews. Sometimes, the review is more interesting than the actual book itself!

This week the Post reviewed several books that I'll probably borrow from the library including:
The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Birth by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan.

The review says of the authors, "They begin by discussing the 'very different' versions of Jesus's birth in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, not to point out contradictions, 'as debunkers of the stories often do,' but to get the readers to focus on the details and understand what they meant in the 1st century." I'm intrigued by this as I always like to learn about the historical context of Biblical events.

For example, my Pastor, Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, discussed the birth of Christ this past Sunday and told us about the three stages of Biblical marriage:
1. An engagement, typically arranged by the families, often when the future bride and groom were children.

2) A betrothal period of one year. This is basically a covenant relationship where they are contractually bound to each other. The couple would have been considered married, but would not consummate the relationship until after the actual wedding ceremony.

[Today, preacher John MacArthur, on his radio program Grace to You,discusses this betrothal stage as a time when the woman would demonstrate her virginity by remaining a virgin until after the marriage ceremony. MacArthur also gives some of the Hebrew terms for these various stages of Biblical marriage that I'll have to listen to again and write down.]

3) The last stage Pastor Dalton mentioned was the marriage ceremony itself, which made them husband and wife.

I learned something new as a result of what Pastor Dalton said, so I'll be sure to research more about Biblical marriages.

The other book I will check out, based on a Washington Post review, is The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's So Good About the Good News by Peter J. Gomes.

Okay, I have to fess up that I had never heard of this man before and I didn't know he was a brother (a fellow Black man) and I didn't know he was gay until I read a recent description about him on Tavis Smiley's talk show Web site: "Ordained as a Baptist minister, he's served at Harvard University's Memorial Church since '70. He's also a best-selling author of such books as Sermons and, his latest, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus. In '91, Gomes shook up the university and the church when he revealed that he was gay. He has since become an advocate for wider acceptance of homosexuality in U.S. society."

Wow! I'll have to read more about Gomes because I cannot understand how a gay man can justify preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ when the Bible clearly does not endorse this! Jesus would likely forgive a gay person of their sins, if they repented, but would tell them to, "sin no more," as he told the adulterous woman in John 8:2-11.

The Washington Post review of Gomes' book begins with, "This book is by the American Baptist minister of Memorial Church at Harvard. His message is, don't ask 'What would Jesus do?' Ask, 'What would Jesus have me do?'"

The reviewer goes on to say about Gomes, "He is not as interested in sin and salvation as he is rethinking Jesus's message, and he delights in the notion of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable."

The fact that Gomes is gay, may explain his notion of rethinking Jesus' message. I'm glad Tavis Smiley's Web site mentioned that Gomes is gay as he didn't do so in his recent interview with Gomes and the Post didn't do so in its review--which I think is important as his homosexuality contradicts the Gospel he professes to preach.

I'll still check out Gomes book and do some more research on him, but I cannot accept him as a gay preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To paraphrase something my pastor said about premarital sex, but applying it to Gomes, "Some may say it is unrealistic for some preachers not to be gay, but we, as believers, must say that it is not Biblical."

Have a blessed day by telling someone what Jesus has done for you.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steve Kendall
P.S. Check out my other blog,http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/,
for an entry about sermons on the birth of Christ.

Praying to Jesus in City Council

The Washington Post ran an interesting story in its Sunday, December 9, 2007 magazine titled, "The Trials and Tribulations of Hashmel Turner: An unassuming small-town preacher and his unconventional Christian lawyer are trying to win the right to pray to Jesus at city council meetings," by Michelle Boorstein.

The article details how a Virginia pastor and City Council member of Fredricksburg, Virginia, Reverend Hashmel Turner, is suing the Council for the right to pray to Jesus in the opening prayer of their meetings. All of this came about when a resident complained about pastor Turner praying in Jesus' name. Rev. Turner refrained from praying for two years, but the Holy Spirit, I believe, moved him to take action.

Please read the article as it is well written and highlights the growing trend of erasing all references to Christianity from public institutions.

I like the way the reporter summed up the argument by some Christian legal grows, "The movement's driving credo is that Christians, who, according to the American Religious Identification Survey, make up more than three-quarters of the U.S. population, are victims of discrimination by an omnipotent secular culture that wants to whitewash the Founding Fathers' Christianity and exclude God from the public square. Public displays of the Ten Commandments or the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance simply acknowledge the role Christianity played in this country's founding principles, these groups argue. It does not amount to an unconstitutional "establishment" of religion at the expense of religious minorities."

Simply put, the Devil is the one at work here. His goal is for us to turn away from God. Removing God from institutions founded on Christian principles is an effort to silence followers of Christ, but we as believers know who has the victory in the End.

Have a blessed day and tell someone about what Jesus has done for you.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steve Kendall
Please read my other blog at:
http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/

Golden Compass: I'll Stear Clear

The movie Golden Compass opens
today, based on a series of books by
atheist author, Philip Pullman. While the movie may
have removed Pullman's atheists plot line,
and characters who kill God, it may encourage
people to read his books.

So for that reason, I'm not going to spend
my money on this movie because it would support
this atheist author.

Those who are not
Christians may not want to see the movie
anyway as many of the reviews today say
it will put kids to sleep because its so
dull.

You, Christian friends are not dull, but
bright, excellent children of God and I
love you.

Have a blessed weekend and tell somebody
about the Jesus Christ you know.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steve Kendall
Please visit my other blog:
http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/

Mitt Romney and the truth about Mormonism

On my daily blog at http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/ I write about Mormonism given that U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney is scheduled to deliver a speech today about his Mormon faith.

I provide a number of resources to learn more about the Mormon faith, I religion that I do not agree with, on my other blog, but here are a few additional resources for you to study:

Sister Livingston of my church shared a DVD with our pastor called Secret World of Mormonism:, which he screen in Bible study recently.

Here are clips of material contained in that DVD:

Cartoon explaining their faith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0d1HbItOo

Blood atonement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvaGLT-_GhY

Mormon Temple ceremony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S_Qq2yQ2Cs

This clip was not in the DVD, but discusses
their sacred underware, covered in the DVD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsXzHLiHTOU

A witnessing encounter with Missionaries:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YPyvJacwUI

Be blessed and share your personal testimony about Jesus with someone today.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Please visit my other blog: http://helmetofsalvation.blogspot.com and Web site: www.BibleStudyCafe.com

Sean Taylor's Funeral

I watched the televised funeral of slain Redskins football player, Sean Taylor today.

I was moved by the tributes and cried when I received an email from my wife during the telecast telling me about her good health report from a doctor's visit this morning. I emailed her that I love her, which I try to do every day.

Washington Redskins coach, Joe Gibbs, whom I'm proud of as he's never shied away from professing his Christian faith, was a bold witness at the funeral service as he asked those in the audience who wanted a relationship with God through Jesus Christ to pray the sinner's prayer with him.

The pastor of my church, Dr. Lucius Dalton, recites a form of this prayer each week and I offer it now for anyone who wishes to pray it:

"God’s desire is that everyone be saved.
Salvation means eternal life as well as
some blessings and privileges here on earth.
It does not matter what we have done in our lives.
God through Jesus Christ wants to forgive us of our wrongs.

Jesus Christ died for our sins and He was resurrected so that we might receive
eternal life.
Salvation is granted to those who confess with their mouths that
Jesus is Lord and believes that God raised Jesus from death.
Jesus is Lord means that Jesus Christ is above anything else in your life.
To believe means that you do not doubt the fact that God has and used His power to raise Jesus to life after he had been dead three days.

If you want salvation today, please pray this prayer.
If you believe in your heart what you confess with you mouth, you will be on your journey towards salvation.

'Heavenly Father, I am a sinner.
I have sinned against You. I want forgiveness
for all my sins. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me and rose
again.
Father, I accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of my life.
I give You my life to do with as you wish.
I want Jesus Christ to come into my heart.
This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen!'

Praise the Lord!
If you prayed this prayer, you will be saved. Now it is time to
join a church where you can grow and mature in Christ."

If you've read this blog entry and/or prayed this prayer and wish to discuss it with
me further, please feel free to contact me at: Steve@BibleStudyCafe.com

Have a blessed day and tell somebody you love them.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steve Kendall