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

Thanksgiving Sermons

I caught up today with online sermons from Thanksgiving Day.

Several that I enjoyed included, my boy (a term of respect and affection), Pastor Paul Sheppard. Pastor Paul has a two part message on the topic of "Praise Your Way Through" about learning how to praise God even in dark and difficult times (based on the experience of Paul and Silas - Acts 16:16-36)

"You want to feed your faith and starve your doubts. What we feed grows. We only have to look in the mirror to confirm that," joked Pastor Paul. Sheppard emphasized that we grow in our relationship with God, through His Son, Jesus Christ by both hearing the Word of God proclaimed and by reading it. He also quoted the apostle Paul's letter to the Romans. chapter 10: 17, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."

A quote of Pastor Paul's that stuck with me and tied in nicely with Thanksgiving,"
You can't fly with eagles, when you're hanging out with turkeys! Sheppard talked about discovering God's will for ourselves and one of the ways he mentioned is to be with like minded, faithful believers in Christ as they may see what God wants you to do in life.

Truths That Transform - the ministry of the late, Dr. D. James Kennedy 1930-2007 had a good, two part message entitled, "The Life-Changing Power of Thankfulness." The series aired on Thursday, Nov. 22 and Friday, Nov. 23, 2007, and is an older sermon of Dr. Kennedy's, who died recently in August of 2007, but like many preachers with an archive of sermons, his messages still live on via the airwaves and Internet.

The description of Dr. Kennedy's Thanksgiving message is, "Do you know what the best cure for stress is? It's not a news flash, but more a lost treasure for many people today. It is when we pray with thankfulness to God, which takes away our feelings of anxiety! Gratitude...builds a healthy lifestyle! Who knew? Learn what else it does, on Truths That Transform with Dr. D. James Kennedy."

Have a blessed day and may you fly like an eagle when it comes to
doing God's will for your life.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steve Kendall

An Attitude of Gratitude

My family was blessed with a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

We began the morning at church. Our Pastor, Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, preached on the topic, "Do For Others, What Christ Has Done for You." Dr. Dalton used Deuteronomy 26:11 as his text. In his message, he pointed out two things the Biblical text of Deut. 26:11 can teach us:

1. God has been generous to us. We need to reflect on from where the Lord brought us from. "We are where we are today," said the pastor, "thanks to the glory of God." Some of fail to thank God for what He has given us.

2. God's generosity shows us how to be generous to others. Pastor Dalton used his oft quoted analogy that if we have a closed hand, balled into a fist, we cannot receive anything, nor can we give anything away. Many of us are like that closed fist--we horde what God has given us and therefore can't bless others.

I was inspired by another sermon I heard this week on the radio, from Dr. Tony Evans, of the Urban Alternative. Dr. Evans was preaching on the topic of Money, based on the life of Solomon, whom God blessed with riches. Like Solomon, we need to be mindful of our blessings and thank the Lord.

Dr. Evans pointed out that a sign that you're obsessed with money is when the time you spend complaining about what God has given you far out distances the time spend thanking God.

So, on Thanksgiving Day of 2007, I reflect back on the year with an attitude of gratitude.

I'm thankful that you took the time to read my blog and pray that God keep you in His care.

You are invited to read my daily Bible Study blog at:
http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steven Kendall

Being a bold witness for Christ

My Pastor, Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church taught a Bible study class tonight that really resonated with me. Pastor Dalton discussed Acts 20:1-12 as part of our ongoing year long study of the book of Acts.

In this passage, Paul is preaching from sundown throughout the night to a receptive group in Troas. During his sermon, a young man sitting in a window falls asleep and out of the window, down three stories to his death. Paul threw himself on the man, much like the prophet Elijah did in 1 Kings 17:21-24 (read all of chapter 17 for context), and brought him back to life.

Pastor Dalton pointed out that throughout his missionary journey, Paul was preaching about the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus. When Paul resurrected the dead young man, it became a living example of the resurrection Paul had been preaching about.

What hit home most of all for me, was when Pastor Dalton told us that if we truly examine our lives, each of us can see God at work resurrecting our lives. We need to be bolder witnesses for Christ like Peter and Paul, said Pastor Dalton. The apostles Peter and Paul didn't let anything stand in their way when preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They were constantly under threat, beaten and even jailed, but didn't let that stop them. "Each of us probably passed up and opportunity today to tell somebody about what Jesus has done for us," said the pastor. This statement is so true and inspired me to be a bolder witness, not only on the Internet, but
to the people I encounter in person.

We don't have to prove the resurrection of Jesus scientifically, but talk about the resurrection of our lives, thanks to Jesus. Resurrection is all around us in nature, pointed out the pastor. The fall brings leaves falling to the ground, followed by a dormant winter period for plant life, and spring brings about a resurrection of plants again. Pastor also reminded us that the reason why we worship at church is to celebrate Jesus' resurrection.

The theme of tonight's lesson taught by Pastor Dalton was resurrection. "God is still resurrecting us today," said Pastor Dalton. "You might be down," he continued, "but Jesus can resurrect you." Bravo, Pastor Dalton. No matter how bad our lives may be, if we believe in Jesus, confess our sins to help and accept Him as Saviour, he can bring about great changes in our lives. Lives of contentment with what we have and need and not focused on the things of this world that we want.

God bless you for reading my blog. I appreciate your time.

Steve Kendall

New Bible Study Blog

I recently launched a new Bible study blog as
a companion to my Bible study site, BibleStudyCafe.com

You can reach my new blog at: http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/

I'll be posting to the Bible study blog daily.
This Helmet of Salvation blog will be used primarily for reviews of Christian books
in the near future.

My New Site for Bible Study Resources!

Howdy everybody,

I'm launching a new Web site named BibleStudyCafe.com,
which will feature Bible Study Resources on a daily basis.

Content for the site is coming soon, but you're
welcome to pay a visit now!

God bless,

Steve

Read excerpts from my books

If you would like to read an excerpt from my children's book,
God's Glorious Christian Soldiers, go to:
http://www.lulu.com/browse/preview.php?fCID=563368

Love Never Fails: Romantic and Inspirational Scripture for Men & Women:
http://www.lulu.com/browse/preview.php?fCID=657441

Everyday Is Mother's Day:
http://www.lulu.com/browse/preview.php?fCID=799345

Coming soon:
--A Savior is Born (Full Color Picture book about the birth of Christ)
--God's Glorious Christian Soldiers: Volume 2

I Promise to Blog More Often

Okay, I promise to blog more often. I've been really busy writing my books and helping several friends with their books, but that's no excuse for me not to post short blogs, with runon sentences, poor speeeling, and a buncha grammatical errors and stuff. : )

I have a new page at GodTube.com: http://www.godtube.com/uprofile?UID=143896
I caught a recent Nightline story about this new site that thought it was a fantastic idea.

I also have a personal Web site that I'm developing at:
http://www.stevenkendall.org/

Here's a secret about me:
I used to teach Web development courses, but don't like to spend much time working on the Web!

Mother's Day Book Available

My latest book, Every Day Is Mother's Day, is now available for sale at:
http://stores.lulu.com/SteveKendall

Every Day Is Mother's Day provides a wonderful celebration of mothers through scripture and beautiful, full-color nature photos. Each day of the week, Monday through Sunday, comes alive with inspirational scripture and stunning pictures of colorful flowers.

New Book-Love Never Fails

Just finished a new book, Love Never Fails: Romantic and Inspirational Scripture for Men & Women.

You can preview this item at:
http://stores.lulu.com/SteveKendall

God bless,

Steve