christianity

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The sad news broke early this morning that Christopher Hitchens, the celebrated, provocative and brilliant journalist/essayist, has passed away at the age of 62 following a battle for the past year and a half with cancer of the esophagus.

Even when I disagreed with Hitchens – and those times were numerous – I had to have grudging respect for the man, because it can’t be said that he lacked consistency. He was one of the rare writers in this day and age who strove in his craft not for sake of political or ideological favor, but instead for nothing more or less than understanding of the human condition and its derivative culture.

Here is Hitchens’ final essay for Vanity Fair, appearing in next month’s issue. In it he wrestles with thoughts of his own mortality and determination of spirit.

And now, there is something that I feel led ...

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There’s no way that I’m going to make a post about this and not include a pic from my all-time very most favorite motion picture…

But if you thought that the Ark of the Covenant made its way to a warehouse in Area 51 (or a warehouse in Arlington, Virginia as one of my history professors said years before Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), it’s been the longstanding belief of many that the real Ark is here…

The Chapel of the Ark on the grounds of the St. Mary of Zion Church in Aksum, Ethiopia.

The story goes that King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba produced a son together: Menelik. Years after the Queen’s visit that was recorded in scripture, Menelik came to visit his father and it was at that time that Solomon let Menelik take the Ark of the Covenant to what ...

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So it’s December 1st and I’m finally allowing myself to enjoy the music of the holiday season! Not that I’m a grinch or anything. It’s just… I’ve never liked how the Christmas stuff now seems to start coming out the day after Halloween (and lately even before then). It only “feels” like Seasons Greetings when it’s after Thanksgiving, and maybe several days after that just for good measure. I mean, doesn’t the year go by fast enough without it needing any “help”?

Well anyhoo, it being the time properly leading up to Christmas at last, I’ll kick things off with a post I’ve been considering for some time now. It’s a neat lil’ bit of historical lore that I’ve always enjoyed and I like to think that others will appreciate it as well.

So here we go with the strange but true tale of how The Salvation Army from its ...

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There are some who throughout the history of Christianity have claimed to be the “one true church”: the only legitimate body of Christ that came into being at Pentecost in the days following the ascension of our Lord. I speak not of those who acknowledge parity with brethren of however peculiar perspective who yet profess Christ as Lord, but instead of those who deign to be the exclusive institution established by divine mandate. Such are the ones who incessantly badger, harass and even lust to destroy their fellow servants out of the notion that doing so makes them “first” in the sight of God and man (mostly man).

Such people are terribly ignorant at best, and outright liars at worst. Invariably their founding tenet is that they are the sole custodians and guardians of “the pattern” of worship found in the New Testament.

Therein rests the fallacy of their argument. ...

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I’d wondered throughout today if I should make a note of it on the blog. Finally I remembered what The Knight Shift is here for: to chronicle my thoughts and reflections, to document the occasional odd adventure (or misadventure), and more or less journal my growth through life’s journey… including (more often than not) the mis-steps.

Well, today is a big deal to me. Especially looking back on those first few years, and then this past year which saw me fall into the darkest valley that I’ve yet known… before God brought me through and closer to Him than ever before.

I have failed and fallen more times than I would have liked. But all the same: it was fifteen years ago today that I first became a follower of Christ.

Not a “Christian”. I’ve never preferred being “only a Christian”. It always had to be about relationship with God ...

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Harold Camping is at it again. The on-air Christian evangelist who predicted that this past May 21st would herald the Rapture and the return of Jesus Christ (uhhhh, it didn’t happen) is now saying that the Rapture will be on October 21st instead.

As for that failed May prognostication, here’s what Camping’s outfit has said…

What really happened this past May 21st? What really happened is that God accomplished exactly what He wanted to happen. That was to warn the whole world that on May 21 God’s salvation program would be finished on that day. For the next five months, except for the elect (the true believers), the whole world is under God’s final judgment. To accomplish this goal God withheld from the true believers the way in which two phrases were to be understood. Had He not done so, the world would never have been shaken in fear

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Found a very intriguing and insightful post on Mary DeMuth‘s blog. Titled “Spiritual Abuse: 10 Ways to Spot It”, DeMuth writes about her experiences with “churches and ministries that bully”.

Here are some of the indicators of spiritual abuse, in whatever form it might take…

– Have a distorted view of respect. They forget the simple adage that respect is earned, not granted. Abusive leaders demand respect without having earned it by good, honest living.

– Demand allegiance as proof of the follower’s allegiance to Christ. It’s either his/her way or no way. And if a follower deviates, he is guilty of deviating from Jesus.

– Use exclusive language. “We’re the only ministry really following Jesus.” “We have all the right theology.” Believe their way of doing things, thinking theologically, or handling ministry and church is the only correct way. Everyone else is wrong, misguided, or stupidly naive.

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I’m looking at this one of two ways: that Pat Robertson sincerely believes what he is saying here. Either that, or as I have heard it said a number of times in my life: “Whom God would destroy, He first makes mad.”

During a broadcast of his 700 Club this week, Christian Broadcasting Network founder and “evangelist” Pat Robertson said that it was perfectly justifiable to divorce a spouse with Alzheimer’s disease, on the basis that the illness is “a kind of death”.

What. The. Hell. ?!?!?

In all honesty, I can’t see how Pat Robertson – if this is his genuine belief – is any different from those who support abortion and the “right to choose”. You know: the things that his Christian Coalition was alleged to be standing against for all those years?

(Well, as a follower of Christ, I always thought that the Christian Coalition was ...

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A team of Italian archaeologists reported yesterday that the tomb of Philip the Apostle, one of the original Twelve Disciples that followed Jesus Christ, has been located in Turkey’s southwestern province of Denizli.

Philip is mentioned in all four Gospels as being among the disciples closest to Christ. He is often associated with that Philip who preached to the Ethiopian eunuch (recorded in Acts, chapter 8), however there is plenty of reason to suspect that there were two Philips who each played a prominent role in the history of the early church. Philip the Apostle is said by tradition to have been martyred at Hierapolis (located in the present-day Turkish province of Denizli). Philip is reported, like his friend and fellow apostle Peter, to have been crucified upside-down.

From the article at World Bulletin…

The tomb of St. Philip the Apostle, one of the original 12 disciples of

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