Month: June 2017

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Fifth Friday Fun: Fake News

Fake newsSince Fake News is in the headlines, I thought that my very own fake news quiz would be the perfect post for a Fifth Friday.

How many times do you pick up the paper, or click through your favorite news site, and encounter some very strange headlines? Some of those stories are real doozies! Could they possibly be true? I was reading along, scratching my head, when it occurred to me that some of these headlines would make a fun game. Below I’ve listed a dozen headlines. Some are real. Some are clearly made up. You can tell the difference, right?

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Grouchy God?

wrath_of_god-224x300I recently heard a couple of comments that really bothered me:

  • “I don’t like to read the Old Testament. It’s all about God’s wrath.”
  • “Which one is true, the kind, loving Jesus or the mean God of the Old Testament? It can’t be both!”

While the person I’m quoting was patterning her image of God on her abusive earthly father, she pointed out a common belief—that God the Father is primarily an angry person—that while Jesus is our friend and brother, the Father has a big scowl on his face.

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A New Thing in Europe

For years, the church in Europe has been in decline. We speak of rising secularism, and the evidence is everywhere. Soaring cathedrals stand empty, with the buildings for sale. The German Spiegel Online reports:

Dwindling church attendance and dire financial straits are forcing the Catholic and Protestant Churches in Germany to sell off church buildings en masse. Some are demolished, while others are turned into restaurants or indoor rock climbing centers.

A cathedral in the Netherlands has been turned into a skateboard park. Others are becoming mosques.

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For a Good Time…

Think of the words we use to describe God—holy, omnipotent, faithful, loving, and so forth. We’ve all seen the lists and heard the sermons. The whole business of describing God seems so serious. We should show our respect, after all. But how often do we think of God as having a sense of humor? Does God ever laugh? Is God… fun?

If we’re truly made in the image of God—and the Bible tells us that we are—then our ability to laugh implies that He laughs too. So why don’t we ever talk about this aspect of His personality?

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Something Completely Different…

When the Apostle Paul exhorted us to be hospitable (see 1 Peter 4:9 for example), I doubt he had microbes in mind. But God might have. We’re host to trillions of the little creatures—on our skin, in our gut, flowing through our veins, and in all of those moist and warm cavities our bodies possess. In fact, they’re in every part of us. And that’s a good thing.

The National Institute of Health’s 2014 Human Microbiome Project concluded that “10,000 microbial species occupy the human ecosystem.” That’s species, not individuals. Other estimates put that number much higher, with 40,000 species of bacteria in our gut alone.

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