1. You might be a false teacher if your website is not blocked by the Chinese government.
2. You might be a false teacher if you think choosing the base model demonstrates modesty and good stewardship every time you purchase a private jet.
3. You might be a false teacher if your last name is also a monetary currency.
4. You might be a false teacher if you think having a Bible Mantra is an alternative to reading it.
5. You might be a false teacher if Oprah invites you onto her show.
6. You are a false teacher if you appear on Oprah's show and she never objects to anything you say.
7. You might be a false teacher if you don't know what an elephant looks like.
8. You might be a false teacher if Brian McLaren endorsed your book.
9. You might be a false teacher if you think you are the one who has finally figured out what the Apostle Paul was on about.
10. You might be a false teacher if you think tithing puts Satan in a cage.
11. You might be a false teacher if you think "Thou shalt not criticize" is the 11th Commandment.
12. You might be a false teacher if you think "Thou shalt tithe" is the 12th Commandment.
13. You might be a false teacher if you think that when Jesus said, "On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets," He was referring to the 11th and 12th Commandments.
14. You might be a false teacher if Barack Obama finds your spiritual advice to be helpful.
15. You might be a false teacher if you think firing an elder is a form of church discipline.
16. You might be a false teacher if you believe it is the sheep's job to protect the shepherd.
17. You might be a false teacher if you wear a suit when you're in the White House and an Hawaiian shirt when you're in the Lord's House.
18. You might be a false teacher if you agree with Rob Bell about anything.
19. You might be a false teacher if you use the Council of Trent to defend your theological position.
20. You might be a false
teacher if you think that Herman Newtix is the guy who keeps telling John
MacArthur to be mean to Charismatics.
21. You might be a false
teacher if you think that "The Message" is a Bible translation.
22. You might be a false
teacher if you think the Bible is subject to your editorial process.
23. You might be a false
teacher if you think that the Reformation was a speed bump on the highway of
church history.
24. You might be a false
teacher if you think church history refers to the different phases of your
building project.
25. You
might be a false teacher if the promise of the forgiveness of sins found in
Jesus Christ underwhelms you.
Karl Marx famously stated that "religion is the opiate of the masses." I'm not sure if Marx ever realized how upside down his famous statement was. It is actually when many of his socialist ideals get put into practice, for an extended time, that you get to see a general populace that is both sedated and pacified. This is strongly evident in my former home of Denmark where the state has taken on the role of a gigantic national nanny (does that sound familiar my Obamanation friends?). Never in my life have I encountered so many passive and indifferent men who have been sedated under the narcotic of a massive welfare system. What is breathtaking about this video is that the young man is not even embarrassed or ashamed of his conduct. He actually seems to think the whole interrogation is going well. When it comes to the opiate of socialized welfare, this young man definitely inhaled!
During my five years in Denmark, I discovered that work is an option that someone may take should he find the place of employment that meets his specific requirements. And why be entrepreneurial and visionary when the state circles your profitability like a vulture with its ravenous claws of taxation. Mediocrity is the happy middle road winding its way through this socialist landscape.
Options abound for those who get their fix from the state. You can take a job and work at your own pace. No worries, the union will make sure that you cannot get fired . . . that is unless you want to take a two year holiday courtesy of your employment insurance. Why have initiative, why be industrious, why care for your neighbor - when the government can do it all for you.
Marx never understood that it is actually a biblical worldview flowing out of a genuine Christian conversion that generates a sense of drive and destiny in the individual. A willingness to risk one's life for the sake of a transcendent and worthy cause. Indeed it was Paul who said:
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us (Phillipians 3:7-17).
Paul even admonished the Christians at Thessalonica that if a man does not work then he should not be fed (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Christians are a people so enraptured with the ultimate sacrifice of their Savior that they joyously enter in to a life of self sacrifice and labor that they may be salt and light in an evil generation.
But the worst thing about socialism is an issue that slides under the radar of most professing Christians. And that is the fact that socialism is an ideology that directly attacks the biblical doctrine of man. Whereas socialism teaches us that we have rights and entitlements, Christianity preaches the glorious Gospel of God's grace - and what is grace? Grace is unmerited favor! In other words, grace is favor bestowed on an individual that he does not deserve. This raises the question as to why we don't deserve God's favor? It is because all men are desperately wicked sinners - the biblical doctrine of man!
Scripture teaches mans depravity on many occasions - here are some examples:
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)
As it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10-23)
Ok, so maybe Paul could say something so brutal to our fragile self esteem, but surely not Jesus . . . then check the verses that immediately follow John 3:16:
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:17-20)
Does the natural man know he is a sinner (as Joel Osteen suggests) therefore nullifying our need to preach on sin and define it. Absolutely not. Mr Osteen clearly hasn't visited any prisons recently because if he did he would have found a building full of self professed wrongly convicted people. Indeed the Scripture teaches that "every man proclaims his own goodness" (Proverbs 20:6) and is "clean in his own eyes" (Proverbs 16:2). That he "suppresses the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18) and has a heart that is "deceitfully wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9).
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)
If we are to teach that Christ died for our sins then we must define what sin is:
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4)
And how do we come to a knowledge of our sin:
if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." (Romans 7:7b)
A faithful proclamation of the Gospel, therefore, must present men as sinners and bring this knowledge by the use of God's law.
So the law functions first of all to kill me, to end my self creation - all attempts to write my own life movie and reinvent my character. The gospel inserts me into a new script: "alive in Christ" (Michael Horton - Christless Christianity p129).
My greatest concern with the current rising tide of socialism in America is not primarily fiscal (although socialism is certainly a safe path to economic ruin). My primary fear with the socialistic indoctrination that produces people like the young man in the video is that it robs them of a reference point to the Gospel. How can anyone ever see his need for a Savior to die for his sins when he is unable to see his own guilt in the first place. And as the video so ably demonstrates, that is what an entitlement mentality so ably does!
Political correctness seems to be spiralling out of control in the USA right now. A stark example of this is all the politicians falling over themselves to accomodate, approve, and allow the construction of a mosque right next to ground zero in New York. Are they out of their mind? What is even more disturbing is how this polical correctness is infiltrating modern evangelical churches. Rick Warren gave us a grand display of this during his inauguration prayer for President-elect Barack Obama . . .
So where do I turn to hear some truth and clarity regarding Islam and the teaching of the Quran? To an atheist, not only that but an english atheist!!! This atheist not only knows how to launch into a spectacular anti-Islamic rant, he also trumps "America's Pastor" in the good Berean discernment stakes . . .
So what are we to make of this as Christians? The call to follow Christ is a call to uncompromising devotion to the exclusive claims of Christ. He is right and everyone else is wrong. He is truth and all other religions are man-made lies. Let's abandon pragmatic man pleasing cleverness in favor of bold faced God ordained truth.
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. Christ the Wisdom and Power of God. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:17-2:5)
This video is an excellent satire that highlights the delusions of grandeur that world leaders can have and also the delusions Christians can have in the political process. We should support things that are morally right and stand for righteousness - this is all part of exercising the biblical worldview. But the only way to bring about genuine change is to prioritize our energies towards the proclamation of the Gospel. Because the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.
Only God can change that sinful heart. We may receives plenty of good counsel on how to conduct ourselves or bring about change but it will all turn out to be a complete failure with no positive results unless conversion lies at the heart of the process. From that point on godly counsel serves as a valuable outlet to demonstrate how God has changed us inwardly. Please hear me on this – there are good programs out there but unless God has done a regenerative work in our hearts the program becomes worthless. This is the issue that must be explored before all others.
The issue of being transformed or “saved” by God has become the Evangelical no-brainer of the 21st century. We all like to think we’ve got a tick in the salvation box and it’s time to move on to more interesting stuff. If that is your thinking then you need to take a holy pause. It can be a dangerous assumption to think that we or our neighbor are “right with God”, especially if there is no outward fruit of inner transformation. I have to confess that I spent many years of my Christian walk with only a shallow understanding of the Gospel. When I stopped trying to move on from it and started to mine deep into it I was able to find pearls of wisdom and treasures of truth that transformed my life. To correct a famous quote of Billary Clinton “it’s the Gospel stupid”.
Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron have an entire ministry (Way of the Master) focused on understanding, experiencing, and articulating the Christian Gospel rightly. They do a lot of interviews and street witnessing, and regularly speak with professing Christians. This has made me acutely aware of the massive subculture out there who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and deny Him with their lifestyle. Christianity for most of these people hinges on good works, church attendance, birthright, or baptism. I think Keith Green summed it up well in the seventies when he said that “going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger”.
But easily the most deceptive and alarming trend that Ray and Kirk have exposed is the multitude of professing Christians out there still living in slavery to their pet sins all the while entrusting their salvation in a ”sinners prayer” that they once recited. I’m not saying that altar calls are totally wrong, but what I am saying is that prayer does not save people – it is the One we are praying to who saves us (provided it is the biblical Jesus) and initiates a miraculous transforming work within us. Jesus told Nicodemus “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3b) and that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5b). Jesus is talking about a lot more than a sinner’s prayer here. What Jesus is referring to with water and Spirit is explained in Ezekiel 36.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness (there’s the water), and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you (there’s the Spirit). And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
It is God Who is speaking in these verses and it is worth noting how He explains conversion and Who it is that does the converting. I will sprinkle clean water on you; I will cleanse you from all your idols; I will give you a new heart; I will remove your heart of stone; I will put MY Spirit within you; I will cause you to walk in MY ways; I will cause you to obey MY commandments. God does everything when he saves someone – even the ability to walk in obedience is a gift from God. This is what happens when someone is truly born again.
Please understand that this is not about judging every person’s salvation. But it is a call not to take salvation for granted. It is a call to heed the Apostle Paul’s advice to the church in Corinth (II Corinthians 13:5) and “examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith”. To see whether we are bearing the fruit of the Spirit that testifies to His inner work. CJ Mahaney always reminds his church members to preach the Gospel to themselves daily. In his book “The Cross Centered Life” he says: These are God’s promises to all who respond to His wonderful plan of salvation. Too many of us have moved on from that glorious plan. In our never-ending desire to move forward . . . too many of us have stopped concentrating on the wonders of Jesus crucified. Too many of us have fumbled the most important truth of the Bible, and therefore we’ve suffered the consequences (p17).
And I have really labored this point because it gets so easily bypassed in our haste for practical solutions to every conceivable problem. Genuine conversion and the resultant indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the foundation that must be in place in order for us to enact all other biblical principles. Wherever we are in our relationship with God, let us pause and take stock. May we come humbly before God and examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. May we fervently explore the endless depths of Christ’s love for His Church demonstrated in the cross.
This weeks sarcasm award has to go to Gene Edward Veith for the recent post on his blog regarding Barack Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize:
Yes, President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. But why didn’t he win the Nobel Prize for Medicine, seeing as how he is trying to reform American health care? And the Nobel Prize for Economics, since he is trying to fix the collapse of the economy. And the Nobel Prize for Literature for his book and speeches. And the Nobel Prize for Physics for trying to make something out of nothing. And the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his chemistry with foreign leaders. I’m personally offended that our president is not getting the international respect that he deserves.
Am I going political on the readers? Perhaps, but only insofar as what we can learn from how the world has become enamored with this man. I mean, really, the Nobel Prize has become a complete joke (if it wasn't already). The radically pro-abortion (including grotesque late term abortions) President might be the master of cliche loaded speeches devoid of substance as well as pandering to muslims with historical myths and revisionism - but it seems that being light on substance and long on rhetoric is good enough for the judges of all that is Nobel! Is it really that easy to seduce the masses? Judging by the favor Obama has already garnered, it seems reasonable to say that we well and truly live in an age where the words of Isaiah 5:20 are coming to fruition:
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
In my years as a Christian, I have often pondered the Scriptures that envision the rise of the Antichrist and how he will capture the affection of most of the world. I have to admit that I used to struggle in believing how this could possibly happen, especially the worship of a man, in a hedonistic world with 24/7 media scrutiny. But as of now, I certainly have a lot less trouble believing how this can happen. Am I saying that Barack Obama is the Antichrist? It would be a foolish call to make. But whether he is or not, the global community is now witnessing a global seduction that many of us would not have thought possible.
How creepy was that? No, it was not footage from one of the Left Behind movies. It actually happened in America. But Obama's appeal has extended to almost every continent it seems. It is patently clear, here in Denmark, that the amount of disdain that the public held for George W Bush is the polar opposite of the affection held for Barack Hussain Obama. If you are one of the many being seduced then I suggest you turn your head away from your television screen and in the direction of that Bible gathering dust on the shelf.
Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds" (Jeremiah 17:5-10).
Obama might have plenty to say about hope but the only hope of any substance will be found in the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The only real hope we can give this condemned world is by preaching about it. The days are evil so let us trust in Christ - the ONLY way, the ONLY truth, the ONLY life - and preach the Gospel, both in season and out of season!
Tim Hawkins may have had a hair cut but little else has changed. The guy still has a razor sharp wit and an amazing talent for speaking thought provoking truth all the while being side splittingly funny. I consider this video to be a genius satirical poke at Barack Obama's fantasy universe of endless spending and chasing rainbows . .
Tim Hawkins has a pile of funny stuff that is really worth checking out!
Continuing on with the theme of manly men I thought it was about time to announce the arrival of a new Bible version that manly men need not be ashamed of. Are you tired of all these sissy boy perversions of the Scriptures?
Maybe you think that Eugene Petersen needs to be taken out behind the woodshed for some "contact counselling" after he wrote his fictional work "The Message". Or how about the "Green Bible" with it's carbon neutral footprint (yes it was made with recycled trees) - for people who want a Bible where baby seals were not a part of the manufacturing process. Then there's the TNIV which is the Nearly Infallible Version for those who can't stand gender stereotypes and let's face it - female chauvinists need a voice! Of course we also have the new "Poverty and Justice Bible" for social justice liberals who can't stand the real Gospel. All we need now is the "Barack Obama Bible Highlighter Pen" (otherwise known as white-out) for all those verses that don't fit with universalist theology. But amidst the haze of sissy boy versions that appease commies, greenies, feminists, and every left leaning liberal there has arrived a Bible for real men and true patriots. Ladies and gentlemen - I present to you the Chuck Norris Patriot's Bible.
I could never really understand why Mike Huckabee didn't become President. And for those of you crying "hey Cameron what about separation of church and state" don't worry. That is not a political comment but a public safety announcement. If Chuck Norris says vote Huckabee then I'm voting Huckabee. And I did . . . just in case Chuck tracks me down in Denmark! I guess no one has dared to tell him about the election of Obama for fear of a roundhouse comin' their way! If Chuck Norris makes the "boogie man" scared of the dark then I'm relieved to have him on my side.
After my last post on the shocking compromise going on at Focus On The Family, I thought it migh be appropriate to post this devastating piece of sarcasm that Anne Coulter wrote concerning the murder of practicing abortionist George Tiller. I think she makes a powerful point!
49 Million to Five by Ann Coulter
06/03/2009
In the wake of the shooting of late-term abortionist George Tiller, President Barack Obama sent out a welcome message that this nation would not tolerate attacks on pro-lifers or any other Americans because of their religion or beliefs.
Ha ha! Just kidding. That was the lead sentence -- with minor edits -- of a New York Times editorial warning about theoretical hate crimes against Muslims published eight months after 9/11. Can pro-lifers get a hate crimes bill passed and oceans of ink devoted to assuring Americans that "most pro-lifers are peaceful"?
For years, we've had to hear about the grave threat that Americans might overreact to a terrorist attack committed by 19 Muslims shouting "Allahu akbar" as they flew commercial jets into American skyscrapers. That would be the equivalent of 19 pro-lifers shouting "Abortion kills a beating heart!" as they gunned down thousands of innocent citizens in Wichita, Kan.
Why aren't liberals rushing to assure us this time that "most pro-lifers are peaceful"? Unlike Muslims, pro-lifers actually are peaceful.
According to recent polling, a majority of Americans oppose abortion -- which is consistent with liberals' hysterical refusal to allow us to vote on the subject. In a country with approximately 150 million pro-lifers, five abortionists have been killed since Roe v. Wade.
In that same 36 years, more than 49 million babies have been killed by abortionists. Let's recap that halftime score, sports fans: 49 million to five.
Meanwhile, fewer than 2 million Muslims live in America and, while Muslims are less murderous than abortionists, I'm fairly certain they've killed more than five people in the United States in the last 36 years. For some reason, the number "3,000" keeps popping into my head.
So in a country that is more than 50 percent pro-life -- and 80 percent opposed to the late-term abortions of the sort performed by Tiller -- only five abortionists have been killed. And in a country that is less than 0.5 percent Muslim, several dozen Muslims have killed thousands of Americans.
But the killing of about one abortionist per decade leads liberals to condemn the entire pro-life movement as "domestic terrorists." At least liberals have finally found some terrorists they'd like to send to Guantanamo.
Tiller bragged about performing 60,000 abortions, including abortions of viable babies, able to survive outside the mother's womb. He made millions of dollars performing late-term abortions so gruesome that only two other abortionists -- not a squeamish bunch -- in the entire country would perform them.
Kansas law allows late-term abortions only to save the mother's life or to prevent "irreversible physical damage" to the mother. But Tiller was more than happy to kill viable babies, provided the mothers: (1) forked over $5,000; and (2) mentioned "substantial and irreversible conditions," which, in Tiller's view, apparently included not being able to go to concerts or rodeos or being "temporarily depressed" on account of their pregnancies.
In return for blood money from Tiller's profitable abattoir, Democrats ran a political protection racket for the late-term abortionist.
In 1997, The Washington Post reported that Tiller attended one of Bill Clinton's White House coffees for major campaign contributors. In addition to a $25,000 donation to Clinton, Tiller wanted to thank him personally for 30 months of U.S. Marshals' protection paid for by the U.S. taxpayer.
Kansas Democrats who received hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars from Tiller repeatedly intervened to block any interference with Tiller's abortion mill.
Kathleen Sebelius, who was the governor of Kansas until Obama made her Health and Human Services Secretary, received hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars from Tiller. Sebelius vetoed one bill restricting late-term abortions and another one that would have required Tiller to turn over his records pertaining to "substantial and irreversible conditions" justifying his late-term abortions.
Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison also got elected with the help of Tiller's blood money, replacing a Republican attorney general who was in the middle of an investigation of Tiller for various crimes including his failure to report statutory rapes, despite performing abortions on pregnant girls as young as 11.
But soon after Morrison replaced the Republican attorney general, the charges against Tiller were reduced and, in short order, he was acquitted of a few misdemeanors. In what is a not uncommon cost of doing business with Democrats, Morrison is now gone, having been forced to resign when his mistress charged him with sexual harassment and corruption.
Tiller was protected not only by a praetorian guard of elected Democrats, but also by the protective coloration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- coincidentally, the same church belonged to by Tiller's fellow Wichita executioner, the BTK killer.
The official Web page of the ELCA instructs: "A developing life in the womb does not have an absolute right to be born." As long as we're deciding who does and doesn't have an "absolute right to be born," who's to say late-term abortionists have an "absolute right" to live?
I wouldn't kill an abortionist myself, but I wouldn't want to impose my moral values on others. No one is for shooting abortionists. But how will criminalizing men making difficult, often tragic, decisions be an effective means of achieving the goal of reducing the shootings of abortionists?
Following the moral precepts of liberals, I believe the correct position is: If you don't believe in shooting abortionists, then don't shoot one.
Well I've almost finished the cleanup operation of scraping my jaw up off the floor. James Dobson has stepped down as the CEO of Focus on the Family and handed over the reigns to Jim Daly. Jim Daly's opening speech was nothing short of a shocker. For a ministry that has been at the forefront of the fight against abortion and gay marriage, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would hear the words that Daly uttered:
What we want to see are more families like Barack Obama's.
What is going on here??? Has the man lost his mind, is he just plain stupid, biblically illiterate, does he fear man and not God, or all of the above? But wait - there's more! The Jim Daly train wreck just continued in spectacular pragmatic, compromising, and biblically ignorant fashion:
But we can respect what Obama does well. We can focus more on the positive. And I respect his family.
Yes, let's just overlook the fact that Obama supports murder of the unborn and also those who survive the murderous practice of abortion.
Daly says he is results-oriented, not an ideologue (what's that smell . . . ahh pragmatism).
When those who are right, left and center all say, 'Let's make abortion rare,' let's meet at that starting point. Let's shove off the rhetoric and get together on practical matters.
Yeah right! Like Obama's policies are decreasing the abortion rate - NOT!
I cannot be Dr. Dobson. I'm hoping for a different pair of shoes. He's black and white -- a scientist. That's a good thing. He's provided clarity for the culture. For me, it's more about having a conversation with people.
Sounding very emergent there Jim.
We're in a democracy. How do we express Christian ethos in a way that draws people into the discussion? We are the church. We have to be more understanding and not expect the world to act like the church. We also don't accept the church acting like the world.
Wow! I mean wow! What is going on here. This is a dramatic paradigm shift away from biblical principles towards liberalism. Paul Washer once said to Christians that "you are prophets or you are nothing. It sounds to me like Focus on the Family has just dropped it's prophetic edge and with that becomes about as useful to the Christian community as an ash tray on a motorbike. We can only hope that Jim Daly gets sacked or has a road to Damascus experience and wakes up to himself.
If you are a supporter of this ministry I would encourage you to protest Jim Daly's appointment and withdraw financial support. Maybe support a ministry like Vision Forum or Shepherd's Press. Because I hear the sound of rushing water and I fear it is the sound of a once great ministry being flushed down the toilet!
Many of you know that US President Barack Obama recently made a speech in Egypt trying to appease the Islamic world. In this speech he made comments which were simply unbelievable and displayed dreadful ignorance of historical facts. Either that or he is propogating evil deceptions on a grand scale . . . . or both!
Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch has written an outstanding line by line analysis of Obama's speech. It is long but it is a great read. Here is the first part:
Platitudes and naivete: Obama's Cairo speech Here is the text (in italics) as prepared for delivery, provided by the White House, via USA Today, June 4 -- with my comments interspersed:
I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning,...whose Grand Sheikh, Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, has given his approval — on Islamic grounds — to suicide bombing.
and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.According to Islamic law, a Muslim may only extend this greeting -- Peace be upon you -- to a fellow Muslim. To a non-Muslim he is to say, "Peace be upon those who are rightly guided," i.e., Peace be upon the Muslims. Islamic law is silent about what Muslims must do when naive non-Muslim Islamophilic Presidents offer the greeting to Muslims.
We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world – tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam."Co-existence and cooperation"? When and where, exactly?
Note that Obama lists only ways in which the West has, in his view, mistreated the Islamic world. Not a word about the jihad doctrine, not a word about Islamic supremacism and the imperative to make war against and subjugate non-Muslims as dhimmis. Not a word about the culture of hatred and contempt for non-Muslims that existed long before the spread of American culture ("modernity and globalization") around the world, which Obama D'Souzaishly suggests is responsible for the hostility Muslims have for the West.
Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust. The idea that the jihadists are a "small but potent minority of Muslims" is universally accepted dogma, but has no evidence to back it up. The evidence that appears to back it up is highly tendentious -- check out here how Dalia Mogahed (now an Obama adviser) and John Esposito cooked survey data from the Islamic world to increase the number of "moderates."
And of course it was by no means only "the attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians" that "has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights." It was also the Islamic texts and teachings that inspired those attacks that have fueled this perception. But Obama is not singular in declining to acknowledge the existence of such texts and teachings. In that he is following George W. Bush and every influential American politician, diplomat, and analyst.
So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end.Platitudes.
I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.No word, of course, of the Sharia laws that impugn the dignity of human beings who are women or non-Muslim by denying them various basic rights.
I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. No single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, Once again, he assumes that it is his responsibility, and America's, to dispel mistrust that Muslims feel for the West. It is not the responsibility of Muslims to do anything to gain the trust of the U.S. or the West in general.
nor can I answer in the time that I have all the complex questions that brought us to this point. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors. There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. As the Holy Koran Holy!
tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth." That is what I will try to do – to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart. Part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience. I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims.
Note that he avoids saying his father was a Muslim, which would open him to charges of apostasy.
As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith. As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam. It was Islam – at places like Al-Azhar University – that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.
The idea that Islamic culture was once a beacon of learning and enlightenment is a commonly held myth. In fact, much of this has been exaggerated, often for quite transparent apologetic motives. The astrolabe was developed, if not perfected, long before Muhammad was born. The zero, which is often attributed to Muslims, and what we know today as “Arabic numerals” did not originate in Arabia, but in pre-Islamic India. Aristotle’s work was preserved in Arabic not initially by Muslims at all, but by Christians such as the fifth century priest Probus of Antioch, who introduced Aristotle to the Arabic-speaking world. Another Christian, Huneyn ibn-Ishaq (809-873), translated many works by Aristotle, Galen, Plato and Hippocrates into Syriac. His son then translated them into Arabic. The Syrian Christian Yahya ibn ‘Adi (893-974) also translated works of philosophy into Arabic, and wrote one of his own, The Reformation of Morals. His student, another Christian named Abu ‘Ali ‘Isa ibn Zur’a (943-1008), also translated Aristotle and others from Syriac into Arabic. The first Arabic-language medical treatise was written by a Christian priest and translated into Arabic by a Jewish doctor in 683. The first hospital was founded in Baghdad during the Abbasid caliphate -- not by a Muslim, but a Nestorian Christian. A pioneering medical school was founded at Gundeshapur in Persia — by Assyrian Christians.
In sum, there was a time when it was indeed true that Islamic culture was more advanced than that of Europeans, but that superiority corresponds exactly to the period when Muslims were able to draw on and advance the achievements of Byzantine and other civilizations. But when the Muslim overlords had taken what they could from their subject peoples, and the Jewish and Christian communities had been stripped of their material and intellectual wealth and thoroughly subdued, Islam went into a period of intellectual decline from which it has not yet recovered.
To read the rest of Robert Spencer's analysis click here.
John Piper is a modern day weeping prophet not afraid to speak fervently upon his convictions. He is a breath of fresh air in a pulpit landscape of cowards and pragmatists. And few issues burn hotter for Dr. Piper than the outrageous holocaust that some call abortion. It is astonishing how popular Barack Obama is among so many professing Christians, many of whom think he is a Christian (even though he is a universalist). Has he managed to hoodwink the entire western world???
John Piper has some choice words for the current President of the United States who is so radically pro abortion (read pro murder) that he even supports late term partial birth abortions. Not only that but as Governor of Illinois he refused four times to enact legislation that would protect children who live through the horrific procedure of late term abortion (read pro infanticide).
May we pray for Barack Obama, that God would save him and regenerate his heart.
You might need to sit down! I know that since Barack Obama was elected there's been a lot of change and hope and hope in the change and change in the hope that brings change . . . . I was certainly under the impression that he is the messiah - at least the world's messiah.
All the fawning over him by politicians, celebrities, and anyone else lacking a shred of discernment has made me want to throw up at times. Even certain supposed Christian leaders have thrown biblical discernment out the window in their gushing over a president who supports infanticide. Am I going political here? Only insofar as to point out that as Christians we need to be practicing a biblical worldview rather than getting swept up in Obamalism - and a lot of professing Christians are. Every "Christian" publication I have seen in Denmark (where I live) has referred to Obama as a Christian - a man who denies the exclusivity of Jesus (just for starters).
What is going on? A black man is in the White House and everyone seems to be excited in some sort of outbreak of inverse racism. Dr King's dream was that a man would be judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin - to that I say amen. I'll let another black man, Alan Keyes (Obama's political opponent while governor of Illinois) give his up close assessment of Obama's character. We all know that Alan can get wound up (in fact I find it one of his most endearing qualities) but his comments regarding Obama's radical pro-abortion views hit home!
In ealier posts I discussed Rick Warren's inauguration prayer for Barack Obama's presidency. Though I was critical of his prayer in general, I did commend Warren for praying in Jesus Name and not being a sissy on that issue. Well it turns out that I might not have listened closely enough and Warren has been very sneaky - but not sneaky enough for people sharper than myself.
If you want a refresher here is the prayer again - listen carefully and then examine the startling revelations below.
Islam expert Robert Spencer at JihadWatch.org, an organization dedicated to bringing public attention to jihad theology and defending Western society, criticized Warren for including a common refrain from Islam's Quran – "You are the compassionate and merciful one."
"'The compassionate, the merciful' is, of course, a reference to the invocation at the beginning of every chapter of the Qur'an except one: 'In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful,'" Spencer writes. "Making sure everyone feels included – terrific. But the prayer indicates yet again that there is little general awareness of the reasons why the term 'Judeo-Christian-Islamic values' is a misnomer."
Warren also included the foundational Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one,"
The Dallas Morning News religion blog writer, Jeffrey Weiss, wrote, "I found it to be inclusive – in the sense that he expressed God's love of all peoples and set forth a set of broad moral imperatives." On the Dallas paper's message board, one contributor presented a complimentary critique, with a fitting conclusion, regardless of one's opinion of Warren's invocation.
"A prayer for our time and our new President," he writes. "May God's care and blessing be upon a people that can extend that blessing onto others. The Lord of ALL (non-Christian, gay and lesbians included) is the Lord of us. May we recognize and honor Him so. As this prayer clearly reminds us, we will eventually have to give an account to Him of our deeds, good or bad."
And being a converted pantheist, I mean environmentalist, he had to play to the “tree huggers” this zinger, “When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us.” And then he couldn’t leave the civil rights over constitutionalists out by praying the adulterous Martin Luther King into heaven.
Greg Dixon at "Freedom's Phoenix" shared the following startling revelations.
Praying in the Name of Isa Inexcusable
I must confess that when Warren came out to pray, I was nervous for him but I was not a Boo Bird. I wanted him to pray a good prayer. I wanted him to hit a homer for our Lord Jesus Christ. He is a Baptist preacher. He follows a Baptist preacher as Pastor to Presidents, what an honor. But when he closed his prayer by saying, “I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life – Yeshua, Isa, Jesus, – who taught us to pray…:” My heart sank. Isa is the Muslim word for Jesus through out the Koran. Here is what the word means in the Koran.
Jesus in Islam [Hilal Plazz.com]
“Jesus, or Esa as he is known to Muslims, is one of Allah’s greatest prophets who brought the same message as all of God’s messengers – worship the One true God without partners. It is obligatory on Muslims to love Jesus and to honor him, as they do for all of Allah’s messengers. Muslims, however, do not believe that Jesus is the son of God nor God himself. According to Islam, Jesus was simply a man who was born of a miraculous birth to Mary without male intervention.”
Is 'Isa the true name of Jesus? Jochen Katz “The traditional Arabic name for Jesus is Yasu'. Until very recent times, all Arab Christians used no other name for Jesus. And even today, that is the name used by more than 99% of all Arab Christians. Just walk into any Arab Christian church, turn on Arabic Christian broadcasting, read Arabic Christian literature written for Christians. You will only find Yasu', never E(I)sa . Only very recently (perhaps some 25 years ago) some Christians started to use the name E(I)sa in Arabic publications written specifically for Muslims in the hope that they may more easily accept their message if they see the quranic (Koran) name for Jesus instead of the traditional Christian one.[1]
Nevertheless, among themselves, Arab Christians do not use E(I)sa (Isa) Abualrub's statement suggests that Arab Christians commonly use E(I)sa , and that is simply wrong.” Mr. Katz also explains that Esa is Esau the brother of Jacob the son of Isaac. Dr. Scott Johnson from Ft. Myers, Florida who has a powerful Internet ministry, has now gone on record with these potent words: “I want to go on record as saying the Rick Warren is NO pastor of mine, and should be shunned by every Bible loving Christian until such time as he repents of his sin, turns his life around and truly decided to follow Jesus, not Esa! Until then, he is no brother of mine and no example of a Christian.”
Praying In Jesus’ Name
While on earth, the Lord Jesus instructed His disciples that after He was gone they were to pray to the Father in His name to receive answers for their prayers. The most hated name in America today is the name of Jesus. You can say God all over the place, but if you say Jesus, you will be treated as if you have the plague. Courts are ruling that His name cannot be invoked in prayer in the halls of the legislatures of the states, and many preachers now are careful at city council meetings and other public gatherings to use generic endings like, “In His name”, etc. After all, we wouldn’t want to offend Jews, Muslims, atheists, etc. Warren’s prayer was carefully crafted to be legally correct when he said, “I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life…Jesus”. That was politically and legally correct. He wasn’t forcing Jesus on anyone else. He had the right to say that Jesus was the one who changed his life, although he didn’t say that He was His Savior.
In private conversation or a church setting that might fly, but not in a public forum. The Lord Jesus said, Lu 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. With these words Rick Warren presented another Jesus that is not the Jesus of the Bible. The Jesus of the Bible is not Warren’s personal Jesus, he is a universal Jesus. Three times God spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him.” The writer of the book of Hebrews said, Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
On my previous blog entry I discussed Rick Warren's inauguration prayer for Barack Obama and in particular his mention of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Some readers may argue that this blog is taking on a political bent. On the contrary I want to wrap this up today and, hopefully, show that the issues at stake here are far more theological than political.
When we reflect back on the life of Dr. King and the war he fought against racism in the USA there are several valuable things we can learn as they pertain to the Great Commission. This concerns the scope of government legislation in what it can achieve, and the battles that can only be fought in the realm of the human heart. The success that Dr. King achieved, at the cost of his own life, was achieved within the realm of government. Black Americans received the right to vote, to sit where they chose on a bus, and to study at the finest universities to name but a few. In short, African Americans gained legal access to participate in every sphere of American life with the exact same opportunities that all other Americans had - and this was undoubtedly a great achievement. But, as I mentioned in my last post, Dr. King had a "dream" and that dream went far beyond the changes that were made to American law. I belive his dream is best summised in this statement:
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character".
That is interesting in the light of what Rick Warren said during his inauguration prayer for Barack Obama:
"We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where a son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven."
I believe that Warren was certainly implying that the election of Barack Obama as President was the realisation (at least in part) of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream. It is quite clear from the context of Rick Warren's statement that his assumption about this is based upon the color of Obama's skin and not on the content of his character. In reality, Warren's comment flies in the face of what Dr. King fought for. Though much has changed in American law, little has really changed at the coalface of American attitude (or human attitude) for that matter.
We just had an election where a wide variety of political aspirants brought brought a wide variety of political agendas before the American people. But polling and research reveals that when voting day came many black people voted for the black candidate because he was black with little or no knowledge of his political agenda or moral fibre. There were women who voted for the female candidate because she was a woman. People with a strong fear of a roundhouse kick to the head voted for Huckabee because Chuck Norris said so (I am definitely among that demographic).
So what are we to make of all this, Christian brother and sister? What am I driving at pointing this sad reality out? For one thing, the role of Gospel preaching in transforming society at the grassroots level. Why are we surprised that we cannot stamp out racism when we cannot stamp out sin? As I have often said the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. The Lord Jesus spoke of what flows out of this unregenerate human heart:
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander (Matthew 15:19).
With this in mind why are we surprised that people carry racist attitudes? I am contending here that the strongest weapon against racism is the strongest weapon against sin and that weapon is the Gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), a power so radical that it can change a wicked human heart to love God and obey His commandments:
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
So utterly transforming that we can experience the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and become a new creature in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 5:17). In short, no amount of legislation or social work can ever measure up to an encounter with the Living God! Something I believe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had just prior to his tragic assasination . . .
Time is short - may your labor be in work that will ring through eternity.
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. (I Corinthians 1:21).
There has been lots of controversy and criticism coming from both sides concerning "America's pastor" Rick Warren accepting Barack Obama's invitation to pray at his inauguration. Do I think Rick Warren should have accepted the invitation - No! But that is not what I want to discuss here today. A lot of people a lot smarter than I am have made plenty of comment about this and I do not feel the need to go over ground already covered. For good biblical insight I recommend you read Al Mohler's article concerning Warren's invitation here.
Personally, I was stunned that Rick Warren didn't think Obama's inauguration was worthy of his best Hawaiin shirt. You may even notice that Rick Warren's voice strikes an uncanny resemblance to that of Dr. Evil (could they be one in the same . . . I've never seen them in a room together . . . c'mon Rick say "one million dollars" . . . naaahh!!). But what struck me even more was the content of Rick Warren's prayer. Thankfully, he didn't sissy boy out on praying in the name of Jesus (STOP PRESS - actually he did wimp out, see this post). But I want to zero in on another comment during the prayer that I believe reveals a lot about Rick Warren's theology and how it is informed by ideology rather than vice versa. Watch and see if you can spot it . . .
Did you notice Rick Warren's reference to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr?
"We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where a son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven."
Dr. King was a great activist who fought the unbiblical racial segregation in the USA during the 1960's. Probably the cornerstone of Dr. King's platform (and his most famous speech) was that he had "A Dream". What was his dream? The essence of it was summed up during that famous speech when he said "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" (emphasis mine).
One would assume judging by Warren's statement "that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven" that he sees the election of Barack Obama as a realisation, at least in part, of Dr. King's dream. The context for Warren's claim (which he is in no position to make anyway - we only know that heaven rejoices over sinners who repent) is based upon Obama's African ancestry. Just stop and think about it for a moment - is it the realisation of Dr. King's dream? Is Warren basing his comment on the color of Obama's skin or the content of his character?
So we've just had an election where many black people voted for Barack Obama because he is black. Many women voted for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman. Many mormons voted for Romney because of his mormonism. Many soldiers voted for McCain because he is a war hero. And scores of people with less than a black belt in karate voted for Huckabee because Chuck Norris said so. Does modern America really evaluate people on the content of their character? Legislatively much has changed, but attitudes seem to be hard to sway through policy.
We can only speculate as to whether Martin Luther King would have endorsed Barack Obama as President. But we can at least examine this in the light of the creeds Dr. King professed. In 1963 writing from a jail in Birmingham Alabama he once wrote:
"A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of Saint Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law."
If Dr. King's evaluation of the content of a man's character was based upon men living by these stated values and furthermore as a champion of those who are oppressed and have no voice (black people were not allowed to vote at that time) then one can only hope that Dr. King would have also been a defender of the unborn. It is interesting to note that the niece of Dr. King (Dr. Alveda King) recently said:
"the killing of a quarter of the black population of the US has not been from the lynch mobs of her childhood days, but from abortionists, “who plant their killing centres in minority neighbourhoods and prey upon women who think they have no hope." “The great irony,” she said, “is that abortion has done what the Klan only dreamed of.”
Watch this video and ask yourself if the election of Barack Obama is the realisation of Dr. King's dream . . .
Welcome to a new day my American friends. Welcome to the new America - an Obamanation. Just like Europe but with a lot more calories.
I sure hope Barack Obama can deliver on his promise to: "bring hope for change in the change that brings hope and changes the hope that changed the change we all hope for" - that is one huge campaign platform.
Christian brothers and sisters do not despair - with political activism looking more and more like a dead end for all those well meaning Christian moral crusaders out there, maybe they'll start putting their hands to the plough of bare knuckle Gospel preaching. The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart and no amount of legislation can ever substitute for the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Here's what Dr John MacArthur had to say on this subject . . .
With that in mind I think it's time for "The Way of the Master" to start selling WWRCD bracelets (what would Ray Comfort do). I have an imaginary one that I always wear on my left wrist. On my right wrist I have a WWMWS bracelet (what would my wife say) - it helps keep my fallout zone to a containable size.
Let's preach the Word in season and out of season remembering that the early church flourished under Nero's persecution. America's greatness is measured by faithful preachers and not powerful presidents because the real Commander in Chief is the One True Sovereign God who has not left His throne for a moment.
We've already read and heard the shocking views that Tony Jones (national coordinator for the Emergent Village) has concerning the authority of Scripture and his acceptance of people who practice homosexuality and claim to be Christian.
As I mentioned in the previous post, Tony is one of the few emergents willing to be clear and open about his agenda - which is why I am amazed that he still gains acceptance as a legitimate Christian teacher. He was one of the most vocal supporters of staunchly pro-abortion President elect Barack Obama. He recently appeared on "Way of the Master Radio" to debate Christian pro life apologist Scott Klusendorf one day prior to the US presidential election. Click Here to hear the debate which begins 21 minutes into the program.
A theme that emerges throughout the debate is that Tony Jones takes a pragmatic approach (even by his own admission) that is not really well thought out even as far as pragmatism goes. Todd Friel who hosts the program later informed me that the audio was lost for the closing part of the debate which was apparently very zesty and revealing. Nonetheless, the audio that remains is very interesting fly on the wall stuff in trying to understand the trainwreck that is "emergent theology".
