Hahaha - Good luck with that!!!

Well, still waiting...

I still haven't produced any content and I have several high-quality camcorders becoming more and more obsolete by the day...

One of my biggest excuses is that I am no longer very photogenic (lol, not that I ever was...) and due to some health issues I am a bit embarrassed about how I look. Heart, diabetes and around 15 medications have somehow affected my skin and I am ready to audition on Z-Nation or Walking Dead.

To that effect, I might try my hand at going back to Flash Animation or interesting stock footage and use more of a podcast format of spoken word or something like that. I get lots of inspiration but by the time I go to record it, it is gone. I would say that I hate this medication but then again I am not quite ready to kick off just yet so I will have to put up with it until or unless I experience a creative miracle.

So in an attempt to get some content happening on my YouTube channel after four years of slackness, I am going low-brow. You should expect to see my unshaven, scruffy, checked-shirt, hoodie-wearing self if you see me at all.

So while I am still raving about myself I will list some of the topics I would like to cover or at least make some throw-away and unscholarly comments about. My passion as a coffee table expert and self-indulgence is what this is all about anyway. I am unable to put in the effort to do the serious research any more. Consider me to be an ex-Berean. If you are interested, then please feel free to challenge my ideas, or support them through your own research and if you are really keen then maybe tell me what you think at pastor@garthclarkson.com.

Ideas:

• Self-image modification techniques
• What they are
• How they work
• Scriptural basis?
• Self-image:
• What is it?
• Does it matter and what effect does it have
• What does the Word of God have to say about it?
• Isn't this just a load of Narcissistic rubbish?
• What can we do about the menace of Calvinism in the contemporary church?
• How come we somehow got stuck in the reformation?
• What aspects of Calvin's teaching are scriptural and good?
• Why did the Protestant world resist Arminius' work and ignore the Remonstrance?
• The roots of organized religious ignorance.
• Grow a beard and buy a gun?
• Why do many classic Calvinistic practices grieve the holy spirit?
• How Calvinism confuses people who try to find balance in the faith/grace vs. works debate.
• How the Calvinistic idea of being one of the "Chosen" breeds pride and contempt for those considered being in the out-groups, leading to racism, religious persecution, self-righteousness, regressive worldview, and in the case of US politics, an unjustified sense of superiority and perceived license to interfere in others' business.
• How has the reformed theology perspective on the gifts of the Holy Spirit stifled revival and introduced serious division in the body of Christ? Has the perfect truly come? I didn't think so. What are they thinking?
• While we are on the topic, on the other hand, what can we do about the experientially based (relationship rather than covenant), seeker friendly trends in the contemporary church?
• Salvation vs. daily walk
• Word of God vs. hearing God's voice
• Door-to-door salesman approach to evangelism - talk up the benefits and ignore the fine print.
• Authority in God
• Authoritarian vs. Egalitarian approaches to church structure and what does the Bible actually say?
• Multiple, parallel authority structures?
• Authoritarian or control freaks?
• Egalitarian or independent and rebellious?
• Godly submission vs. worldly lording it over
• Everybody!!! PLEASE STOP EXPLAINING THE GOSPEL TO NON-BELIEVERS!!!
• We are told to PREACH the gospel, not teach it.
• We are told to DECLARE the good news of salvation.
• The plan isn't to let heathen know what they are missing but to help them to be translated into the Kingdom of God. This happens by faith and obedience, not mental assent and understanding. Besides, Paul said that the natural mind CANNOT understand the things of the Spirit. Once they are spiritually awakened and in the family, then explain it to them.
• We give ammunition to people who hate God. It doesn't bring God glory when we don't live up to their expectations and they use us as an excuse to reject Him.
• People who accept Christ mentally because they don't want to go to hell have a much harder time understanding and living for Christ. It is like their heads are saved but not their hearts. They live a life of torment.
• What is wrong with the classic interpretation of Acts 15's 4 rules.
• Are they the only things we need to worry about?
• Do we throw out Jesus' teaching in favour of Acts 15?
• Are we painting with too broad a brush? Isn't the Council's justification relating to salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit in reference to circumcision and the keeping of Mosaic Law.
• Do we also throw out Paul's teaching to the Gentiles? Why not throw it all out if there are just these 4 rules?
• What do the four rules actually mean?
• Wouldn't "strangled meat" also relate to some of our current (but thanks to the proliferation of Islamic and Halal requirements, no longer practiced) abattoir stunning practices?
• Idolatry. Wouldn't the almost exclusive use of Halal Slaughter-men in Australia mean that nearly all of our meat is unable to be eaten by Christians due to having been offered to idols? Islam worships Allah (Arabic moon god formerly known as Ullah and also known as Bel or Baal in Palestine) who is not the creator God but a false god.
• Sexual immorality (porneia). What does it mean? What is the scope and depth of what this means? What is excluded? What does it NOT mean?
• Blood. Just blood? Does it mean drinking blood? Does it include the use of blood-based products like fertiliser, fire fighting foam, serums, vaccines, etc? Does it apply to transfusions like the JWs claim? (If so I am cactus) Or does it refer to the shedding of blood as in violence? Does it mean that we can't join the armed forces?
• We need the legal, historical and cultural background of the Old Testament in addition to the guidance of the New Testament in order to correctly interpret what the Jerusalem Council meant when they gave these rules to us. These laws cannot be interpreted in a vacuum by themselves.
• What is the biblical teaching on gender roles and relationships?
• Is love love or is it something else entirely?
• What are the roles of spouses
• as partners
• as managers
• as parents
• What is expected of children?
• Apart from obedience to the Word of God, why is this important? What are the consequences of a truly egalitarian society without restraint?
• Crime and prison statistics
• Suicide rates
• Divorce rates
• Burden on welfare services and tax rates
• How should scripture be properly interpreted?
• One of the things Calvin did get right is that the Word of God is and should be the final authority for the believer. The only problem is that many of the grave errors of himself and his followers is, that the way in which they interpret the scriptures is simplistic and counter-productive.
• We don't just have one covenant. We have many covenants recorded in the Bible and we need to know what the terms and conditions are for each of them and what does and does not apply to us today. The practice of placing the same weight one each and every verse is damned ridiculous and the root of so much heresy and disunity in the body of Christ today.
• Context rules. How can we just pull out the promises we want without looking at the conditions, purpose and target individuals applying to that promise. Just because He owns the cattle on a thousand hills doesn't mean that we can just go and nick a couple!
• Everything is conditional.
• Now is the only time that applies to anything. We cannot claim future benefits unconditionally. We must be aware of the conditions required to remain in His grace and to appropriate what He has for us.
• How do the unlearned and unstable twist the words of the Apostle Paul and the rest of the scriptures and how do we avoid this (2 Pet 3:15-18)
• How come you can read the Bible over and over and miss half of what it is saying?
• Look at the classic verses that are only read half way through
• Look at the chapters that seem to be invisible to most contemporary Christians
• Supernatural, Power-based ministry
• Requirements
• Qualifications
• Oversight
• Purpose
• Scope
• Practical application
• Consequences of screwing this up
• Does ability to move in the power of God indicate His approval? No.
• Does the ability to move in the power of God indicate righteousness? No.
• Is the ability to move in the power of God a qualification for leadership? Hell no!!! (Look at the old rampant televangelists...)
• Christians and political activity
• Should Christians be involved in politics?
• What kind of political ideologies are compatible with biblical Christianity?
• What kind of political ideologies are NOT compatible?
• How far can a Christian go politically?
• What are the boundaries?
• Covering
• Walls and hedges
• The role of Satan in the world and how we should relate to him
• We are at war. Why does it seem that the church has forgotten?
• Raising the banner
• Faithfulness of Job
• Blood of Jesus
• Angels
• Authorities, principalities and powers.
• Weapons of our warfare are not carnal. What are they then?
• We do not war according to the flesh
• The weapon of forgiveness
• What are the elementary principles of Christ mentioned in Hebrews?
• How can we do as the author says without first being acquainted with them?
• The anointing
• What is it?
• Why do we need it?
• How do we get it?
• How do we use it to build the body?
• Examples of how it relates to the accounts of "sovereign" moves of God?
  

I didn't realise that I had so much on my mind. It appears that it is a good thing to write things down. (derrr) There are other things as well which I can't think of at present but this is a guideline.

Anyway, even if I can't get to do any of it then take it as some really helpful ideas for you to research and bring to the body of Christ and the contemporary church in particular because these topics are sorely needed today. It is like there is a wilful ignorance of these things that needs to be addressed.

Cheers,

Garth.