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Showing posts from February, 2014

"Pope and Change"

A Facebook friend wondered aloud how Pope Francis got to be Pope in light of comments like this: "We have created New idols. worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings."   - Pope Francis I responded thus: "He became Pope the same way that Barack Obama became President. He's ethnically 'new', with clever words and expressed sentiments, that sound like a breath of fresh air, but underneath the same old gears are operating the same old machine. In a few years, the Hope and Change Pope will have the same level of disappointment among those who really care as the Hope and Change President. Mark my words. He will do nothing doctrinally or otherwise to move the Lying Behemoth

After 'Strange Fire'

(note: This piece was written a while ago, I just never got around to posting it.)  I have had a very interesting time reading the commentaries, blog posts, articles, tweets and more that have risen up as a result of the 'Strange Fire' Conference. Full disclosure. I am a former charismatic. Yes, former . As in I   ‘used to be’ I do not believe in 'speaking in tongues' any longer, (yes I used to do it) at least as practiced by the Pentecostals and charismatics that I know and Love. I no longer believe in what they will define as 'The baptism of the Holy Ghost' (aka the second blessing, doctrine of subsequence, which differs significantly from the Biblical definition) Am I still saved? Yes , Sanctified? Yes . Holy Ghost Filled? Yes. Am I a cessationist, then? No, rather, not quite... (I will explain that in a later piece.) It is not for lack of experiences, mind you. Rather it is because I believe that my experiences/feelings are not evidence