The Brand (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 6, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 27, 2009 Page: 3 of 6
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OPINION/RELIGION
3
Daily Bible Verses:
Forgiveness
By Callie Rankin
Religion Editor
Tuesday, October 27
Psalm 103:1
“As far as the east is from the west, so far
has he removed our transgressions from
us.”
Wednesday, October 28
Hebrews 4:16
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need.”
Thursday, October 29
Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all you who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for
I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy
and My burden is light.”
Friday, October 30
Psalm 55:22
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He
shall sustain you; He shall never permit the
righteous to be moved.”
Saturday, October 31
1 John 2:1
“These things I write to you, that you may
not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an
Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous.”
Sunday, November 1
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.”
Monday, November 2 ,vt «
Acts 3:19
“Repent therefore and be converted, that
your sins may be blotted out, so that times
of refreshing may come from the presence
of the Lord.”
Tuesday, November 3
Isaiah 43:25-26
“I, even I, am He who blots out your
transgressions for My own sake; and I
will not remember your sins. Put Me in
remembrance; let us contend together; state
your case, that you may be acquitted.”
Wednesday, November 4
Romans 8:1
“There is therefore now no condemnation to
those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Thursday, November 5
Isaiah 1:18
“Come now and let us reason together,”
says the Lord, “Though your sins are like
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;”
Friday, November 6
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; old things have passed away,
behold, all things have become new.”
Saturday, November 7
Hebrews 10:17
“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember
no more.”
Sunday, November 8
Daniel 9:9
“The Lord our God is merciful and
forgiving, even though we have rebelled
against him.”
Monday, November 9
Colossians 1:13-14
“For he has rescued us from the dominion
of darkness and brought us into the
kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we
have redemption, .the forgiveness of sins.”
The Emergent Church Theology
Rif Wnrlftlf modern world. The prob- becomes gray and the given to me. Therefore go
By Ezra Worley
Staff Reporter
The “emergent”
church is a commonly
used term, but what does
it really mean? How does
it apply to us? Unlike
prosperity theology, the
theology of the emer-
gent church is harder to
detect but almost just as
dangerous. The reason
it is harder to determine
emergent theology from
biblical theology is that,
like all good deceptions,
a portion of it is good and
right. The focus, however,
is wrong.
Emergent theology
is a newer concept; it is
an attempt to provide a
new take on old theology
in the context of a post-
modern world. The prob-
lem with this lies in the
very definition: by chang-
ing the theology to con-
form to post-modernism
(the very essence of non-
conformity), the mean-
ing behind the theology
has to change as well. At
its core, emergent theol-
ogy focuses on rejecting
the customs and hard
core truth claims that a
traditional theology con-
dones. In an attempt to
be relevant to culture,
the emergent church has
driven itself away from its
foundations.
An example of some
of the ideas this theology
holds is the focus on the
needs of those around us
rather than on a personal
relationship with Christ.
This is where the issue
gray
lines blurred. Helping the
needy and the poor is very
important, and should
play a large part in the life,
of Christians. However,
our life goal should be
closer communion with
the Creator. The reason
we help the poor should
not be the act of helping
them, and reaping the
personal benefits of doing
so, but to help spread the
good news about Christ.
By showing love to those
around us, we show the
love that Christ had for
us first. This is the idea
behind the great com-
mission that Jesus gave
his disciples in Matthew
28:18-20: “Then Jesus
came to them and said,
‘All authority in heaven
and on earth has been
and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything
I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of
the age.’”
Though this hardly
even scrapes the surface of
the theology of the emer-
gent church, the main
idea is quite simple, and
a lesson can be learned
from it. While Christians,
living in a post-modern
society, must attempt to
be relevant to their cul-
ture, they must hold fast
to their beliefs and not
change them to make
them more appealing.
Response to human trafficking
Photo courtesy of: vietnameseworkersabroad.wordpress.com
ByElyseHahne
Managing Editor
Whether we know it
or not, slavery still exists
today. Slavery, however,
has a new name: human
trafficking. Human traf-
ficking is on the rise in
the United States and
it does not seem to be
slowing down. The fact
is that over one million
people have fallen victim
to human trafficking and
only a few convictions
have been made against
the perpetrators. Did you
know that around 80 per-
cent of human-trafficking
victims are female and
about 50 percent of vic-
tims are children?
How should the
church respond to this?
Faith Alliance Against
Slavery and Trafficking
(FAAST) is a faith-based
group that helps victims
who have been a part of
trafficking. They state that
they “mobilize communi-
ties to generate a united
and active response to
the injustices of slavery
and human trafficking.”
FAAST knows that there
is a problem and they
are there to help. This
organization allows other
groups, such as churches,
to help “form large scale
anti-trafficking projects.”
Whether Catholic
or Baptist or Methodist,
churches publically
denounce human traffick-
ing. So what are churches
doing in the fight against
human trafficking?
Firstly, churches and anti-
human trafficking organi-
zations alike are sending
a clear message to per-
petrators by supporting
the victims of these evil
crimes. Justin Dillon,
director of the documen-
tary Call and Response
made an incredible
impact when he chose to
take on this horrific crime
and told a true story
about those who had sur-
vived from the ashes of
this crime. He now speaks
at churches around the
nation and is associated
with the BGCT today. In
2008, this musical docu-
mentary was released to
raise awareness and bring
hope to those who have
been victimized. This
documentary reveals a
glimmer of hope to those
who have been affected
by human trafficking and
want it to be brought to an
end.
Another group rais-
ing awareness against
Human Trafficking are
state attorney generals.
Eric Nichols, a
Deputy State Attorney
General, said, “The fight
will require the help of the
public and public organi-
zations such as churches.
Texans serve as the eyes
and ears for law enforce-
ment officials. This is
an issue where your
organization and your
churches, if you have the
enthusiasm, can make a
difference.”
Evil a Suffering (contJ
By Izak Santana
Staff Reporter
Tuesday, October
6 brought a little more
to the day than usual: A
little more sadness, heart-
break, anger, confusion,
ambivalence, and hope.
Well, I guess that’s a
lot more.
Our guest whom
was heard from that
morning in chapel was a
man named Justin Dillon.
Instead of hearing the
typical lecture-driven
style chapel service, there
was a dialogue put on dis-
play. This conversation,
however, wasn’t limited
to Dr. Piggot and Mr.
Dillon; Hardin-Simmons
University students were
invited to text message
their own questions with
the hope of Dillon giving
the answers needed.
It’s obvious that
things were a little shaken
up that day, but what
was the topic? Why did
Dr. Piggot decide that an
interactive experience
was the better choice for
this particular message?
Was it a deep discus-
sion about the doctrine
of baptism? Or was it a
debate over evolutionism
and creationism? It was
none of these things. The
theme of the day was not
one of contentment or
pride. The problem that
arose is the same hideous,
massive black hole that
has plagued the world as
long as we’ve been around
to see it: the problem of
evil.
In all my studies
and conversations, I was
never aware that there
were 27 million slaves in
the world today. We can
look at the Holocaust
and Hurricane Katrina
in dreadful awe, but it’s
always a little more com-
fortable looking from ret-
rospect. This issue is also
in hindsight, but it doesn’t
remain there. Twenty
seven million humans are
enslaved today. Twenty
seven million is 11.26
percent of the popula-
tion of America. So, if it
was America, that’s over
1 out of every 10 people.
This fact is not something
that is easily read over or
comfortably dismissed.
This is the type of fact that
invades your thoughts,
throws your priorities on
the ground, and cripples
your spirituality.
Speaking of spiritu-
ality, the question keeps
rearing its ugly head into
the world. Where is God
in all of this? Whose fault
is it? If he’s all-powerful
and all-good, why isn’t it
fixed? Would it be safe to
say this was in his will?
Why does his plan for me
include attending HSU,
but his plan for a little girl
in India to be abused hor-
rifically everyday? Does
he care for me more?
What if his perception
of good is different than
ours? What about us?
What should we do? What
can we do? Is this essen-
tial to spirituality? Does
God even care about this?
We will soon
attempt to form answers
to these questions, but
at the moment, let’s just
think. If you feel like you
have an answer to any
of the questions above,
or a response to the
Call + Response move-
ment, please send them
to sant282Q@hsutx.edu.
If we are to remain a
believer in a God who is
all-good and all-power-
ful, we must at least try
to answer the question of
evil because it is knocking
at the door.
Be good to each other.
Izak
Are magazines literature?
However, literature Magazines vary on
By Nathan Reedy
Staff Reporter
Magazines inform
people about many sub-
jects. Topics can range
from religion and news to
celebrity gossip and quiz-
zes. Although these peri-
odicals are highly infor-
mative and entertaining,
can they be considered
pieces of literature?
Literature is usu-
ally though to be com-
prised of classical pieces
that have survived over
time. Authors like Homer,
Shakespeare, and Orwell
have written such pieces.
can be defined as “the
body of written works of
a language, period or cul-
ture.” This definition does
not then imply that a piece
of writing must be any
good before it can become
a piece of literature.
Magazines can therefore
easily fit into the category
of literature because it is a
“written work.”
The article you are
reading is literature, and
even research papers may
be considered pieces of
literature. The argument
could then easily be made,
what is a gt'eat piece of
literature?
many subjects. Many
focus on weekly news
or factoids that may be
discarded in a week or
less. However, other
magazines will contain
well educated reports
that comment on issues
of science and art, and
may even contain high
grade literature within the
pages. Some writers and
comic book artists have
gotten their start on the
pages of a magazine or a
newspaper.
Magazines are con-
sidered literature because
they compile written
works. Many people will
not consider magazines to
be literature for their lack
of professionalism. The
realm of literature encom-
passes all written mate-
rial within a parameter
of people. It is not deter-
mined by quality.
Magazines are liter-
ature because they reflect
the human experience.
Life is still the main sub-
ject between the pages.
They may not express
things as highly as some
classic literature will, but
they both attempt to do
the same thing. For that
reason, magazines are
indeed pieces of literature.
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Wong, Adriel. The Brand (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 6, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 27, 2009, newspaper, October 27, 2009; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth896744/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hardin-Simmons University Library.