“In the last days difficult times will come.
For men will be
lovers of self, lovers of money,
boastful, arrogant, revilers,
disobedient to parents, ungrateful,
unholy, unloving, irreconcilable,
malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal,
haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.â€
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NAS)
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?†Psalm 8:3-4
“What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.†Romans 1:19-20
An interactive version (zoom in, zoom out, etc.) of the Orion photo is here: Hubble. (Good luck, though, I think the Hubble site’s server is being overwhelmed with hits).
Pat Robertson has apologized to the son of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for saying Sharon’s massive stroke was God’s judgment on him. (See earlier post: “Robertson: Leave God’s Judgment in God’s Handsâ€). In a letter dated Wednesday and addressed to the prime minister’s son, Omri Sharon of Jerusalem, Robertson wrote:
“I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel for remarks I made at the time concerning the writing of the holy prophet Joel… My concern for the future safety of your nation led me to make remarks which I can now view in retrospect as inappropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief experienced because of your father’s illness. I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel for saying what was clearly insensitive at the time.â€
Full text of the letter is here: Robertson apology.
Guess Pat Robertson is finding out that attacking a world leader can be bad for business. Last week Robertson declared that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had a stroke because God is angry with him (see earlier post: “Robertson: Leave God’s Judgment in God’s Handsâ€). Now the Israeli government is pulling out of a deal in which Robertson would have built a tourist attraction/theme park near the Sea of Galilee.
Say what? That’s right. Apparently Robertson has been developing Galilee World (friends, really, I’m not making this up) – which would include a park, auditorium, amphitheaters, and, of course, a TV studio. Israel was going to donate the land and infrastructure (Israel is more than happy to pave the way for U.S. tourists). Location of the proposed Galilee World is northeast of the Mount of Beatitudes, the traditional location of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
But now the Israeli government says no dice – at least not with Robertson. Tourism Ministry spokesman Ido Hartuv said his government is furious with Robertson after his remark about Sharon. The BBC quotes Hartuv as saying:
“We were due to sign a contract in the near future with Mr. Robertson … We, as the State of Israel, cannot accept what he said, and we will not do any business with him or with anyone else who agrees with his view.â€
If that sends your heart sinking, don’t worry. Galilee World may still become a reality. Hartuv added,
“The contract is still open, just not with Mr. Robertson. If there are other Christian leaders, they are most welcome to sign a contract to bring Christian tourists to the state of Israel.â€
Interested? For $50 million (and a promise not to declare that God hates Israel’s prime minister) Galilee World can be yours.
10. Allowing television evangelists on the air without regulating their hair stylists.
9. Allowing radio evangelists on the air without first conducting heresy inquisitions.
8. Allowing society to leap ahead of the church by requiring proficiency exams for doctors and lawyers but not requiring any competency testing for the salaried clergy.
7. Choosing people for church leadership on the basis of whether they are willing to serve communion and take up the offering, rather than whether they know Genesis from Revelation or faith from works.
6. Devoting a big chunk of the church’s missions budget to sending members on annual adventure excursions to foreign countries, even though most of the travelers don’t even bother to learn the language of the people they are ministering to.
5. Funding evangelism on an equal priority with the church’s lawn care needs.
4. Dropping the requirement that people wear formal dress to church, resulting in today’s preferences for shorts, jeans and T-shirts among everyone at every church event.
3. Attacking long hair on men as satanic (at least when I was a kid), while posting pictures of Jesus with hair longer than that of any rock star.
2. The church remains a rest home for believers rather than a hospital for sinners in which everyone enters through the emergency room.
1. The failure of the church to promote Pat Robertson to a suitable emeritus position.
