Marketing strategies

Well, the other day I saw for the first time a gas station actually selling E85 fuel. It was priced at $2.31.xx/gallon, which was $.20 cheaper than regular unleaded gasoline. But I wonder how many people realize that, at those prices, they're actually paying more for their fuel with this stuff?

Ethanol has about 75% of the energy content of gasoline (depending on the source you use; mine is the EPA), so a blended mix of 15/85 gas/ethanol has about 78% of the energy content of gasoline. If this translates directly into 78% of the fuel economy, then users will be paying roughly 8% MORE for fuel in the form of E85.

Is it really worth it? No, but all of the global warming freaks are making the public think it is. I'm starting to wonder if oil companies are behind global warming in a totally different way....

Are we wandering away?

I'm becoming increasingly concerned that the Christians, as a whole, are becoming more and more Deist in their beliefs, and it concerns me. I know many people who would gladly rationalize away events in their lives saying the the Lord can do anything He wants, and that no correlation exists between the events in our lives and our pursuit of Him. He can do anything He wants, but because of His nature, He must also do everything He says He will. This includes working in our lives, leading us, guiding us to places He wants us to be. This includes answering prayers (as long as they're not in direct opposition to His will), especially when we pray incessantly for something. This includes caring for us here and now, and comforting us when the enemy opposes us. This includes giving us wisdom (abundantly) about the why's and how's of directions we're taking or plans He has for us.

But the first step in all of this is believing that He will do all of that. Jesus could not work in towns because of their unbelief. And I believe that God's work in our lives depends on the extent to which we believe and trust that He will is actively working in them, and doing so for our good.

So, I'll end this with a few questions. I've read one blog recently where the author stated outright his belief that we're all on our own.How many of you out there believe that God is "hands off" in our times? How many of you believe that? And why? And if you were showed that the Bible says contrary, would you believe it?

clarification....

I currently have two blogs. This one is, and has always been, intended to be pretty much free-form; a place to postulate or vent about the vast array of mind-boggling things (whether good or bad) that I run across in my wanderings. My other one (http://aliens-and-strangers.blogspot.com/index.html) is intended to be focused pretty much only on theology and other matters of faith. Please visit it for more thought-provoking discussions in these areas...

No regrets

Something is being lost in today's churches. One of my cousins made a statement once that she "tried not to regret anything" that she ever did, because at least she could learn something from it.

But the problem is....we're supposed to regret things. We're flawed creatures, and will be until the Lord returns. And when we sin, the attitude of a person with a godly heart will be to repent. Regret is interchangeable with remorse (and, coincidentally, with sorrow), which is required for true repentance.

Now, I've heard the "don't regret anything" story before, but never from anyone who professed to be a Christian. And since that statement was made, I've heard it from other "Christian" sources, as well.

So, my question is: who's teaching this philosophy (even "new theology") in our churches, and why?

I guess the short answer is that its genesis lies in people bringing that idea in from the world, and never abandoning it in light of the truth found in the Bible. After all, people have been doing that to Christianity for nearly two thousand years.

I just hope this one doesn't stick around like some others have....

that's it

I'm officially sick of hearing about the freaking iPhone.

that's all.

the rest of the story

yesterday, my wife and I went to church with my folks (who are members of basically a community church bordering on being charismatic). The preacher/pastor person who spoke seemed to have a good, cohesive message, and used a scriptural example to demonstrate his point. And then he missed the point completely.

His example was of that of Mephibosheth, the grandson of King Saul, who was crippled and exiled at the end of Saul's reign (and life). The claim was that David sought out Mephibosheth and extended grace and mercy to him, even unconditional love. And the comparison was to God's love. The statement that this pastor made over and over again was that "this kind of love is not dependent on the response of the person to whom it is offered" and the message was that God gives us salvation regardless of how we respond to Him.

We all know this is not true. Or do we? I tried to engage my folks in a conversation about this, and they said that it was implied that repentance is part of the story but it just was not explained in the sermon. I know for a fact that several members of my family don't understand the tie to repentance, and I believe very firmly that the importance of repentance is being lost to whole generations (just starting on a second one). So, if those who know just assume that the full story is being told, who will be left in 20 years to speak the truth and tell the rest of the story to those who are lost?

It was just another moment in a sad weekend.....

The cross too graphic?

Something the other day struck me as both curious and mildly offensive. I was discussing movies with a coworker and the subject of the movie "The Passion of the Christ" came up. My position is that it was somewhat revolutionary in that the intent was to depict the graphic violence involved with Jesus' death for our sins. This person is an atheist (most days, agnostic on others), and found the movie too graphic for public consumption. He further stated that, if he had been "on the fence" with regard to religion, the movie would have sent him over the edge the other way.

In hearing this, I came to a realization that this man is one of those whose hearts are basically dead to the gospel. His response ranges from casual disinterest to being abjectly offended by everything at the core of being a true disciple of Christ.

My question is this: at what point, if ever, can we let go of the burden of evangelizing a person, including people such as this? Are we always to carry an expectation that everyone must be and will be saved?