Fun with Books

An old friend told me to do this:

When you have a window open, the content of the Toolbox changes according to what is available to work with in the current window (see Figure 1-11).
-Database Programming with Visual Basic.NET by Carsten Thomsen

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

For those of you in the job market...

Or, just in case I find myself in the job market: Talking Points for People Who Serve as My Professional References.

CNN.com - Court upholds Bible class ban - Jun 8, 2004

Okay, without getting too much into whether or not the Bible should be taught in public schools, I just wanted to comment on one particular aspect of this article. Please note the third paragraph:

Edgar ruled that the Bible Education Ministry program in Rhea County violated the First Amendment's clause calling for separation of church and state.

Here is the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

I'm sorry, but does that amendment "[call] for seperation of church and state"? Or is it even implied? It certainly doesn't look like it to me.

"Seperation of church and state" seems to be the most misused statement when it comes to interpreting the Constitution.

Someone please tell me if I'm wrong.

Pre-Evangelism

Not sure if everyone's familiar with this term. Just in case, here's an excerpt from When Skeptics Ask a handbook on Christian evidences by Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks that gives a contrast b/w evangelism and pre-evangelism:

Rather than first trying to lead people to Christ, [the pre-evangelist] remove[s] the obstacles to faith. Rather than just preaching the Word, [the pre-evangelist] spend[s] more time using reason to explain why objections are groundless. Instead of asking immediately for a spiritual commitment, [the pre-evangelist] [seeks] intellectual agreement on the issues that must be understood before the Gospel can be accepted. For example, if someone does not believe that God exists and that He can perform miracles, then it makes no sense to him to say that God raised Jesus from the dead...

In short, it is the mission of the pre-evangelist to remove the obstacles to faith.

I've spent a large portion of the last year preparing myself for pre-evangelism. More to the point, I've probably spent the last 10 years preparing without actually knowing it. I constantly cross paths with people who have strange ideas about the world and about God. Ideas that are based on experiences and emotions rather than on the Truth of God's Word. I've always felt a calling to try to communicate Truth to these types of people.

Anyone have any thoughts on Evangelism vs. Pre-Evangelism? Is one more/less/just as important than the other?

Let's Start w/ a Laugh...

Not satisfied to just post comments on other blogs, I've decided to start my own. I'm hoping this will serve as a place that I can share my thoughts/questions/ideas/opinions with friends, family and, ultimately, the public at large.

NOTICE:
Please respect your fellow bloggers/commentators.

DISCLAIMER:
I don't know it all, I haven't seen it all and I certainly haven't experienced it all. That being said, anything I post to this blog is always subject to change. Not out of conformity or out of fear, but, hopefully, out of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that guides all believers to Truth.

Now, I predict that there may be some serious debate taking place in this blog soon (if anyone ever visits/reads it), so I thought I might start with a bit of humor:

I came across this while visiting David Shrigley's website. Thanks Evan.

ADDENDUM:
And this will give me nightmares forever.