Igneous Quill

The Not For Sale Campaign is calling for a "Freedom Sunday" to be held in churches around the world on February 21, 2010.  Click here for more information.

Sunitha Krishnan's life story and those of the girls she works to help are hard to hear, but it needs to be heard and acted upon.  Watch the video above.  If you are ready after seeing it to follow up with some form of concrete action, check out Sunitha's blog and the website of the organization with which she works.

Another organization, one that is specifically Christian, that works with girls rescued from sexual slavery is Rapha House.  If you're rather work as an abolitionist against global human trafficking in general, take a look at the Not For Sale Campaign.

Christian martyrs are the real deal, unlike discontented teenagers and the frustrated poor of Islam who are called heroes for strapping bombs to their bodies and committing murder-suicides.

For more, check out The Voice of the Martyrs.

Israel was once enslaved in Egypt doing exactly what some folks in Pakistan are forced to do to pay unending debts and survive.  Watch the following video, then check out the link at the bottom of this post if you are ready to get involved.

Seen enough?  Become an abolitionist.

About two years ago I searched for the Bible study below but couldn't locate in my files, boxes or books. I figured that it got misplaced or thrown out in one of my family's many moves since living Brazil. About a week ago I stumbled across it by accident as I was searching for a different missing item.

This is a lesson on how to study the Bible. I wrote it in late 1996 for a roommate who happened to be from Brazil. I had not yet been to Brazil (that would happen in the following year) and couldn't speak a world of Portuguese, but his English was passable and he wanted to be baptized into Christ. I wrote this study as a means for making certain that he would approach the Scriptures "reasonably," rather than as a grab bag of assorted verses to be applied out of context as a sort of quick medication.

This study is presented essentially as it was written by an earlier rendition of myself.


When you look at any passage of Scripture, ask yourself four questions:

1. Who is Speaking?


2. To Whom?


3. For What Purpose?


4. For What Age (Covenant)?

We will now consider each of these questions in depth.
First, who is speaking? the Bible is God's Word, but He chose to use men to convey His message.

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual with spiritual" (1 Corinthians 2:12,13).

So, although Paul or Like or someone else wrote the words, even using the style of language and writing that was then common, the origin of the words and message was God.

• Who was God speaking through in the Book of Romans? The Book of Revelation? James?
  [Romans 1:1, Revelation 1:1, James 1:1]

Second, we must ask ourselves as we consider any passage of Scripture, "Who is being spoken to in this passage?"

It is true that the Bible is God's Word to humanity in general, but not all of it applies the same way to everyone.

For example, let's look at 1st John 1:8-10.

"If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."

Who wrote this passage? Most likely the apostle John, inspired by the Spirit of God. Who was he writing to, saying these words?

The context indicates that Christians received this letter from John. People who have already submitted to the Lordship of Christ Jesus, and are now Sons of God.

Since this writer is writing to Christians, then verses 8-10 apply to Christians only. If an immersed believer in Christ sins, he or she can confess that sin to God and be forgiven. This verse does not apply to non-Christians. If someone who has not believed in Christ and submitted to Him desires forgiveness, then that person should follow Acts 2:38;

"Repent, and let each of you be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

In the above quoted passage, the apostle Peter is speaking to those who have been unbelievers, and not baptized. In contrast, 1 John 1:8-10 is speaking to baptized Christians.

• Take a look at 1 Thessalonians 1:1. This is a good example of both Rule 1 and 2.

Third, it is good to ask "for what purpose" was any particular passage of Scripture written? Often, books of the New Testament were written to proclaim some specific doctrine or doctrines of the faith, and at the same time to denounce other teachings as false.

For example, the Book of Colossians was written by Paul and Timothy (1:1) to the Christians in the city of Colossae (1:2). They wrote to Colossae because the church there had been influenced by teachers of false religions. Some were teaching that gentiles had to become Jewish before they could become truly Christian. Others were teaching that Christians should embrace certain practices of eastern religions. Both categories of teachers were wrong, and the apostle wrote to correct the problem.

One of my favorite passages from Colossians says:

"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ"(Colossians 2:8).Fourth and finally, "for what age (covenant)" was an particular passage written?

God has made a few covenants (binding agreements) in history. The two most prominent covenants are the Old Covenant (made to the Hebrew nation through Moses) and the New Covenant (made to all the world through Christ Jesus). The Old Covenant was inaugurated at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20-23), and the New Covenant began in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and in the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Church (Luke 23, 24; Acts 2:1-4).

The conditions of one covenant must not be confused with those of another. For example, Exodus 20:8 says:

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."

Which covenant was this written for, the Old or the New? Obviously, for the Old Covenant. The Sabbath was to be the seventh day of the week, a day of rest and religious devotion for the nation of Israel. However, it was not and is not for the Church.

The day of assembly for Christians is the first day of the week, not the seventh.

"And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread..."(Acts 20:7).

"On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come" (1 Corinthians 16:2).

Sunday is the "Lord's day"(Revelation 1:10), but not a sabbath day. The Christian's sabbath rest is in Christ Jesus (Hebrews 2), not in any special day.So there you have it. Four good rules or principles to use when studying the Bible, along with some essential Christian doctrine. May God bless the reading of His Word.Scripture Passages Quoted:
1) 1 Corinthians 2:12-13
2) 1 John 1:8-10; Acts 2:38
3) Colossians 2:8
4) Exodus 20:8; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10

Click here for the PDF Version of this study

This has long been my favorite Christmas hymn.  Rich in meaning and anchored in Scripture, it doesn't get much better than this in my opinion.  I offer it here in traditional Latin as well as in a contemporary rendition.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Not long ago I was surprised to read about the work being done on behalf of immigrants by the Reformed Church of Highland Park, New Jersey.  Under the leadership of Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale (his wife Stephanie co-pastors with him) the church has taken a very active role in advocating for undocumented immigrants.  What impresses me most is that the help they offer is both legal and practical.

Typically what I see among churches that speak on behalf of undocumented immigrants in the United States is just that: a lot of words.  Progressive and liberal Christians do a lot of campaigning, blogging, letter writing and protesting.  It could be that the Highland Park parish does all or some of the above as well.  More importantly, they actually work directly with immigrant people on a regular basis.

The Highland Park Reformed Church works with immigration officials, putting in a good word for individual immigrants and negotiating terms for them to turn themselves in for processing.  In many cases they manage to obtain permission for these folks to stay in the country while they attempt to work out their status through the courts.  At points the relationship has been confrontational, but on the whole what we see is genuine cooperation.

Read the New York Times article for yourself.  It's good to see people working in a legal and responsible manner for the good of undocumented immigrants and within the boundaries of the system, such as it is.

Valentino Achak managed to escape from southern Sudan while he saw other boys killed by soldiers and wild animals.  After relocating to the United States as a refugee he could have simply started over and left the horrors he had seen behind him.  After all, his homeland has suffered from civil war for around 5 decades.  What is there for him in Sudan?  Instead, he threw all the profits from a book about his life story into building a school in the area that had been his home.

The school discussed in the video above is now built and in operation.  In recent weeks he made known a desire to dramatically increase the number of girls in the high school to over 50%.  Right now there are only 14.  Early marriage and the demands of helping out at home tend to reduce female enrollment.  Instrumental in his strategy is building dorms for girls.  Nick Kristof got word out and they've raised thousands of dollars in only a couple of weeks, realizing yet another victory in the peaceful fight to retake Sudan through education and hope.

Read Kristof's article here, as well as the follow-up here.

The Valentino Achak Foundation.

Some churches (mostly a United Methodist parish, although from the video an Episcopal parish helps out) are featured in the video above for how they've stepped up to help out the community in a down economy.  They call it "Simple Supper."

Doing good for others may require work, but it doesn't have to be complicated.

This evangelical Christian singer named Carlos when out one day with a crew to do some filming.  They were working on an EPK for his upcoming album.  While Carlos sang, a homeless Rastafarian man named Danny came up and joined in.  It made for what I consider an interestingly unexpected interfaith moment.  What most intrigues me is the lesson passed from the Rastafarian fellow to the evangelical.  Read the original post if you didn't catch it from the video.