Category: culture

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culture politics, economy, etc.

Remember

Remember all those times Newsweek went out of its way to make candidate Obama look like an inexperienced empty suit by their photo selections of him?  And how the “mainstream” pubs treated him and Gov. Palin the same?  Oh yeah, forgot.  That never happened. See Andrew Cline’s The Newsweek Bachmann Cover

Remember all those times NPR went out of its way to make evolutionary zealots look bad and gave even voice to biblical Christians?  Never happened.  Never will. NPR dedicated a piece during prime drive time this morning to parroting the recent Christianity Today cover article showcasing the leading evangelical compromisers on human origins.  NPR phrased the issue as whether evangelicals were going to rely upon the authority of science or lose all intellectual credibility and stick with the authority of scripture – the classic science v. Bible false dichotomy.  The only positive in the coverage was that they did take a few seconds to talk to one Biblical evangelical, Dr. Mohler, which is more than I recall Christianity Today having done.  NPR also gave Dr. Mohler the last word and he used his soundbite well, stating “The moment you say ‘We have to abandon this theology in order to have the respect of the world,’ you end up with neither biblical orthodoxy nor the respect of the world.”

Societies that jettison God’s truths devolve into moral bankruptcy.  Systemic economic bankruptcy is typically tied directly to moral bankruptcy.  Pray we turn this mess around here and in Europe.  Interestingly, the church is thriving in the east, particularly in China and South Korea and their economies are booming.  So far, the 21st Century is foreshadowing that 2100 will be more different from 2000 than 2000 was from 1900. Like the last century, technology will continue to transform cultures and societies, but it appears a significant geo-political and economic shift is occurring.  Head West young man, so far you go east …

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culture politics, economy, etc.

Debtor Demographics

From Mark Steyn’s Happy Warrior column, National Review July 18, 2011:

A government big enough to give you everything you want isn’t big enough to get you to give any of it back.  That’s the stage Greece is at and so, to one degree or another, is the rest of the Western world.  In the United States, our democracy is trending as Athenian as the rest: We’re the Brokest Nation in History, but, as those Medicare polls suggest, getting enough people to give enough of it back isn’t going to be any easier than it is in Greece.  From Athens to Madison, Wis., too many people have gotten used to a level of comfort and ease they haven’t earned.
…
The social capital of a nation is built up over centuries but squandered in a generation or two.  With blithe self-confidence, the post-war West changed too much too fast.  We changed everything, and yet we’ll still wonder why everything’s changed.

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books culture marriage and family politics, economy, etc.

Legislating Gay Marriage

In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that barring same-sex couples from civil marriage was unconstitutional. In an advisory opinion to the state legislature on why enacting “civil unions” as an alternative to marriage was legally insufficient, the Court explained its view that “segregating same-sex unions from opposite-sex unions cannot possibly be held rationally to advance or preserve” the governmental aim of encouraging “stable adult relationships for the good of the individual and of the community, especially its children.” Under this decision, the state of Massachusetts began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in May 2004. Over the next seven years, activist courts across the country continued to rule that the failure or refusal to extend “marriage” to gay couples violated state and the federal constitution.  See here.

Polls show an ever increasing number of Americans support the notion of gay marriages, demonstrating yet again the normative influence of laws over time and the power and consequence of an activist judiciary. See here.

This past June, the New York legislature was the first body of elected officials to pass a gay marriage statute on its own volition.

Two leading conservative evangelicals point the blame for this unbiblical re-defining of marriage not on the activist courts or the politicians, but instead on the Church. Ken Ham observes of the NY gay marriage law, “This is only the latest in a long list of how America has been turning its back on biblical authority.”  See here.  Mr. Ham points out that the church and Christian leaders have so compromised God’s word and failed to teach apologetics and that faith that the current generations are simply walking away from the faith and Biblical truth is increasingly ignored.  Mr. Ham explains and demonstrates these points at the church and Christian college level in his two recent books Already Gone and Already Compromised. 

In a recent interview with Charisma News, Dr. Michael Youssef expressed a similar sentiment:

Younger evangelicals have been sucked in by false teaching and are now walking away and turning their backs on biblical morality. The only morality they look at is taking care of the poor by the government—not by us but by the government. That is very dangerous. …

This problem started in the church. The society did not begin to collapse on its own, morally, when churches started to reject the authority of the word of God. The debate about homosexuality started in the church and not politics. The Episcopal Church started the whole thing by ordaining gays and blessing gay marriages. That came from the church pulpit into society. Then the Presbyterians followed and now many evangelicals don’t want to talk about it. The main issue is rejecting God’s word as authoritative over us as individuals and as a church. As goes the church so goes society. The church is the one that needs to repent first. It is my call to the church … to call the church to repentance. Until that happens society is going to continue going in a downward spiral.

Alan Sears recently wrote in American Thinker that the church’s morale failure has been by design, which would make repentance of the church even more difficult:

The church survived intact until late in the 20th century, when the leftist onslaught changed from “in your face” to “in your place,” and activists of every stripe pursued the pulpit in order to further their various causes.  (Thus, certain churches are often accomplices in things like the homosexual agenda instead of an impediment to it.)  Thus, rather than calling the culture to repentance in light of biblical truth, churches increasingly reflected the culture, actually providing a degree of spiritual comfort for all sorts of behavior.

Mr. Sears sees the church’s being encroached  by the dollar and by government.

At CatholicCulture.org, Dr. Jeff Mirus recently explained why homosexuality may provide the impetus for the next gulag.

No group is more hateful to modern society than the perceived moralistic prigs who, out of what most perceive as religiously-motivated prejudice, seek to diminish the personal sexual liberty of others. Nothing could be more obvious in our current culture than that such people must be silenced and, if necessary, restrained. Moreover, it seems only right and just that their denunciation of the gay lifestyle and their opposition to gay marriage should be criminalized. In fact, it should be criminalized in the name of liberty. That is why gay marriage is the lie that will create the next Gulag.

Dr. Mirus concisely explains how we’re following the logical path of “sterile” marriages, i.e. where reproduction is no longer the central focus of marriage and sex. The path started with divorce and then to birth control, abortion, homosexual marriage and increasingly suppression of opposition.  There is increasing evidence of a future where standing for Biblical truths will result in criminal and professional punishment. Dr. Mirus advises that we are to live the Truth of Christ in our lives and in our families in the days to come, particularly in the face of persecution.

The prospect of criminal and professional persecution of those who espouse or practice Biblical truths is not terribly far fetched or far off.  Indeed, my State Bar of NC recently tried to prohibit its licensed attorneys from taking taking sexual orientation, transgender, or sexual identity issues into consideration during the course of practicing law, such as when hiring new attorneys or deciding whether to represent a client.

Not only are Baby Boomers leaving future American generations with trillions of dollars of debt to repay, but these sexual Bolsheviks appear intent on establishing Pink Fascism as part of their legacy. Pray hard for repentance and revival.

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culture entertainment

“I Was Born This Way”

And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways.  Hear instruction and be wise and do not neglect it.  Blessed is the one who listens to me … Whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death. Prov 8:32-36

Lady Gaga’s most recent hit, which reached no. 1 on the sales charts, captures current popular moral sentiment.  Gaga’s assessment of our condition is spot on, however, her moral conclusion (and encouragement) is quite unbiblical and wrong. Gaga’s lyrics:

My mama told me when I was young
We are all born superstars
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir
“There’s nothin wrong with lovin who you are”
She said, “’cause he made you perfect, babe”
“So hold your head up girl and you’ll go far,
Listen to me when I say”

I’m beautiful in my way
‘Cause God makes no mistakes
I’m on the right track baby
I was born this way
Don’t hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and you’re set
I’m on the right track baby
I was born this way

Ooo there ain’t no other way
Baby I was born this way
Baby I was born this way
…
Don’t be a drag – just be a queen
Don’t be a drag – just be a queen
Don’t be a drag – just be a queen
Don’t be!
…
Whether you’re broke or evergreen
You’re black, white, beige, chola descent
You’re lebanese, you’re orient
Whether life’s disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
‘Cause baby you were born this way
No matter gay, straight, or bi,
Lesbian, transgendered life
I’m on the right track baby
I was born to survive
…
I was born this way hey!…

Lady Gaga captures popular American moral sentiment.  While sounding cutting edge rock-n-roll, Gaga’s moral message is mundane popular moral sentiment: look to yourself and be true to what you find.  Walt Disney movies often pound the theme of believing in yourself and never losing sight of your dreams.  There is good in believing in yourself and your aspirations, to a point.  Follows our pop culture cue and runs full speed past that point and never looks back.

Lady Gaga celebrates the way we’re born, whether it’s our race, sexual orientation or gender identity.  According to her, if you follow the way you were born, you’re on the right track.  If you were born a bisexual drag queen, you’re on the right track because you were born that way and God doesn’t make mistakes … according to Ms. Gaga.  I wonder whether she feels the same about pedophiles, sadists, bigamists, and misanthropes.  Regardless, her message is quite familiar: trust yourself and how you feel, particularly in matters of sexuality.

Lady Gaga’s moral conclusion is even more errant than her wardrobe. The wisest man reported to have lived instructed that “He who trusts in himself is a fool …”  (Prov. 28:26).  Gag is correct that we are born a particular way.  The Bible is quite clear that we’re born into a fallen state of rebellion.  From cover to cover, the Bible makes very clear that our internal moral compass does not naturally steer in a “good” direction.  To the contrary, our natural paths is straight to Hell.  Jesus Christ clearly explained to Nicodemus that we are not to rely upon they way we are born:

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

John 3:3-6.  Contrary to Gaga, we were not born “on the right track.”  The track Gaga celebrates, the track of our natural desires in the flesh, is the track to God’s condemnation. Gaga praises the way of death.  We are born in the flesh, but if we are to enjoy eternal life with God, we must be born again in the Spirit.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  

Galatians 5:16-23.

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 

Ephesians 2:3-5.  We should pray that God will fully open Lady Gaga’s eyes and convict her heart that the way she was born is not the way, the truth or the life, and that The Way is Jesus Christ.

Trust in the Lord and walk in His ways.  Eat from His table and drink from His cup. Praise Him and follow Him.

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culture politics, economy, etc.

Remembering And Thanking Our Freedom Fighters

Thousands have given their lives in service to our country, for our domestic security and for freedom abroad. 

A total of 4,435 patriots gave their lives in revolt against monarchical English rule.  Those lives paid for our republican experiment that we continue to this day some 236 years after the first shot fired in Lexington.

364,511 Union Soldiers died in our Civil War, fighting to preserve the Union and later against slavery as well.  Authoritative statistics for Confederate forces are not available. Estimates of the number who served range from 600,000 to 1,500,000. The final report of the Provost Marshal General, 1863-1866, American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics indicated 133,821 Confederate deaths (74,524 battle and 59,297 other) based upon incomplete returns.  In addition, an estimated 26,000 to 31,000 Confederate personnel died in Union prisons.

116,516 Americans died in WWI and 405,399 died in support of the Allies effort in WWII.  36,574 died in Korea and 58,220 in Vietnam.  6,013 Americans have given their lives in the current fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.  See here and here. 

Further, thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines lose their lives each year in training accidents and in personnel injuries while training and while serving our country.  The government is not real open with these statistics, since they reveal that military service is a high risk occupation, particularly for those that serve in the combat arms.  See, e.g. here.

Thank a current or former service member and pray for our service members.   If you served our country – Thank you! 

We should work hard to end the ongoing fiscal irresponsibility that threatens our national heritage from within, the heritage that so many paid the ultimate price to preserve.

Finally, let’s also not forget, Airborne Rangers lead the Way!

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culture

Lady Gaga? Really?

The other morning I turned on Good Morning America to watch some morning news.  As they were returning from commercial break, they ran a short snippet of one of Lady Gaga’s music videos acting in a way that was beyond PG-13 to put it kindly.  I thought for sure the show’s hosts were going to talk about how appalling this was and how it is being exposed to our children.  However, it was just the exact opposite.  The show’s hosts came on happily talking about how great a performer she is and that she was going to be on the show performing live for a free concert.  Most of the audience cheering in the background were little girls.

I’ve seen Lady Gaga now a couple of times making appearances on some other morning news programs and other shows like American Idol. I can’t speak for her talents because I’ve never really listened to her singing, but her appearance and provocative fashion and dancing I would say are always well beyond a G, PG, or TV-14 rating.  She may have the right to freedom of expression. But when the form of expression surpasses a level of decency, morals, and ethic and is marketed toward kids, it has to make you ask, Really?

For years now, I’ve seen R-rated actors portray characters on various children’s shows.  For example, the narrator’s voice for the Thomas the Train kids TV series has been George Carlin, Jerry Springer, and Alec Baldwin. Really? Is this the best Hollywood could find to market to children?  Most young children wouldn’t recognize these names.  So why would producers spend the extra money to hire these celebrities?

As adults, we may recognize George Carlin as the infamous comedian for making popular the 7 dirty words.  Or how about Jerry Springer as the king of trashy talk shows.  Other voices I’ve seen over the years on children cartoons on PBS, Disney, and other kids’ channels have included Cheech Martin, Gilbert Gottfried, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Michael Myers, Jack Black, and so many others.

If you think about it, most of us probably wouldn’t allow these people to babysit.  Yet we invite them into our homes every time we tune in to any of these shows or plop in these popular DVDs.

Categories
culture entertainment

Turn it on again

Sometimes it’s difficult to appreciate something in which you’re completely immersed .  It may be trite but nonetheless true, a fish might not realize it’s wet.  I would suspect that to someone born and raised in North Korea, totalitarianism “feels” normal.  When an entire society is immersed and accepts something as a given, often that something avoids rigorous scrutiny. 

Television is ubiquitous, or to define it more broadly, electronic visual stimulation is everywhere and largely accepted.  From movies, to television, to video games, to the Internet and our PDAs, we’re increasingly becoming e-stimulation junkies.  Television and its progeny replace our needs and desires for meaningful thought, social engagements, civil duties and the critical thinking that should be attendant to each.  Our electronic cocoons become a cultural religion. Our entertainment binds us more than our religion, politics, or even our business needs.  The stimulation of visual entertainment has increasingly become an end unto itself, a consuming end.  As a result, each year we consume an ever-increasing amount of “screen time.”  See here.

In the April 18 edition of National Review, Ben Berger presents a cogent case that television and its kin may be the primary agent eating away at our social and political fabric.  Could it be that screen time eats Republics as well as grey matter?  Is electronic stimulation on such a scale of consumption a giant, mental parasite?   Could television be a primary agent in what so many of us recognize as fundamental societal decline? 

Television makes us fat, lazy, inattentive, unsociable, mistrustful, materialistic — and unhappy about all of that. It cheapens political discourse, weakens family ties, prevents face-to-face socializing, and exposes kids to sex and inures them to violence. Yet Americans can’t get enough. In 1950, just 9 percent of U.S. households owned a television; by 1960 it was 90 percent, and by the year 2000 TVs were just about everywhere. Now the average U.S. household has more TVs than people. 

Please read the rest at Ben Berger’s Tocqueville And the Tube

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culture homeschooling

Public Education Failure

Nearly half the citizens of Detroit are functionally illiterate. See here. The City itself had a population of over 700,000 in 2010, with over 4 million people in the metropolitan area.  The metropolitan areas are slightly less-worse:  34 percent in Pontiac and 24 percent in Southfield reported as functionally illiterate.  Note from the linked article, Detroit’s functional illiteracy rate is only slightly higher than Washington DC and Cleveland.  In 2008, DC was spending over $25,000 per child for education.  These cities have been hardcore Democrat party controlled areas for over a century.  The teacher unions run the school systems unchecked.  More proof that the public school system as designed, run, and funded by the left does not work. 

The government does a few things well but not, however, running schools or businesses (or planning economies). Education is best done by families and/or private enterprise with close parental involvement.  The best thing most parents can do for their children’s primary education is to get the government out of their school room, get themselves involved, and put God back in the curriculum.

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culture

It’s all about me … cont’d

 Joe Carter at First Things recently published an excellent analysis on the worldview that gives rise to our culture of abortion. (hat tip Jill Stanek) 

Abortion and the Negation of Love

Those of us in the pro-life movement often claim that we live in a “culture of death.” But most of us don’t believe it. Not really. We may use the phrase as a rhetorical tool, but deep in our hearts we think that our family, friends, and neighbors wouldn’t knowingly kill another human being.

We convince ourselves that they simply don’t realize what they’re doing. If only they could see—and honestly look at—the ultrasound pictures of an unborn child. If only we could convince them that what they consider a “clump of cells” is a person. If only they knew it was a human life they were destroying. If they only knew, they wouldn’t—they couldn’t—continue to support abortion.

But they do know. And the abortions continue. Not because we live in a culture of death but because we live in a culture of me.

Read the rest of this excellent article here.

See also Really, it’s not about you

Categories
culture homeschooling

False Piety by Great Homeschool Conventions, Inc.

Suppose a company, representing itself as Christian, hosted a homeschool convention featuring prominent Christian speakers and as is typically done, set up a large venue for vendors to present and sell their homeschool curriculum and wares.  Suppose further that one of the speakers and vendors teaches apostasy and sells homeschool materials propagating the false teachings.  Another Christian speaker and vendor talks on the topic of the increasing problem of compromise and false doctrine within the church and cites to the apostate vendor and his curriculum.  In short, one speaker criticizes another vendor for teaching and selling false doctrine.

What if anything would you expect the convention host to do? 

Would your answer change if the host had a policy against filtering the viewpoints of vendors and speakers?

I would not expect the host to ban the critic and continue hosting the apostate.  Of course, I would be and was mistaken.  In this case, the critic was Ken Ham who criticized the teachings and curriculum of Peter Enns and BioLogos.  The convention host is Brennan Dean, Great Homeschool Conventions.  In the real life story, it was not enough for Mr. Dean to ban Mr. Ham from further speaking engagements.  Instead, he permanently banned the entire Answers in Genesis ministry from appearing as a vendor at any future conventions hosted by Mr. Dean’s company.  Fire the critic, ban his ministry, and protect against criticism (and depressed sales) of the false doctrine.  You can’t make this stuff up.  See detailed article, to include Mr. Dean’s midnight email to AiG announcing his edict here. 

Dr. Enns is Senior Fellow of Biblical Studies for The BioLogos Foundation, which views Christ and scripture as follows:

If Jesus as a finite human being erred from time to time, there is no reason at all to suppose that Moses, Paul, John wrote Scripture without error. Rather, we are wise to assume that the biblical authors expressed themselves as human beings writing from the perspectives of their own finite, broken horizons.

See here.  Dr. Enns openly teaches that the Old Testament does not provide a reliable or accurate account of origins.  He explains,

When it comes to the science/faith discussion, the presence of the cosmic battle motif in the Old Testament should send us a strong signal: don’t expect the Old Testament to inform, let alone guide the scientific investigation of origins. If we approach the Old Testament expecting from it a “literal,” “historical,” “accurate” account of creation, we will (1) misrepresent reality in the name of faith, and (2) miss the theology that the biblical authors were so intent on putting there.

See here.  Dr. Enns teaches that the Creation account in Genesis is simply a metaphor and that Adam did not exist; Adam is a metaphor for the nation of Israel. See links to Enns’ BioLogos teachings here.  Dr. Enns’ homeschool curriculum reportedly dissuades parents from teaching their children about sin, grace, or the Old Testament.  See here.

For years, Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis have defended the integrity, reliability, and relevance of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.  I agree with this and serve the AiG ministry. Many families homeschool precisely because they also believe this and the public schools are prone to undermine such a worldview.  When it was announced that Mr. Dean and his company GHC were banning Mr. Ham and AiG, there was an outpouring of protest.  In hours, hundreds of people posted gracious words of support and encouragement on Mr. Ham’s FaceBook page and criticized GHC on their FB page.  This morning as hundreds of posts turned to thousands, GHC disabled and deleted all comments on their FB page and posted an “explanation” on their website.  They claimed that actually, they agreed with Mr. Ham’s “position,” but disagreed with his “spirit.”  See here. 

There are a few problems with Mr. Dean’s attempt to justify his suppression of Mr. Ham and AiG.  Foremost, neither Mr. Dean nor anyone else at any point during the prior convention or thereafter approached Mr. Ham or any of the leadership (or anyone lese) at AiG to discuss this “spiritual” problem. In his midnight email, Mr. Dean accused Mr. Ham of divisiveness and of defaming the convention and “other speakers.”  See here. It smacks of post-hoc rationalization.  Does the Bible support addressing a “spiritual” problem via a midnight email and then refuse to return calls to discuss the allegations? Is that “spiritual”?  Second, Mr. Dean provides nothing to substantiate his accusation and public defamation of Mr. Ham.  Third, even if Mr. Dean’s slander were true, how would that justify permanently banning the entire AiG ministry as a vendor.  Are AiG’s books, movies and curriculum “unspiritual”?  Hardly.  Mr. Dean’s explanation lacks content and merit.

What is nearly certain is that Mr. Ham’s criticism of Dr. Enns adversely affects sales of Dr. Enns’ new homeschool curriculum.  Dr. Enns’ curriculum is published by Peace Hill Press, the publishing arm of The Well-Trained Mind.  Peace Hill Press is owned and operated by Dr. Susan Wise Bauer and her family.  Ms. Bauer is the corporate Vice President.  Mr. Ham’s criticism is not good business for a major homeschool vendor and a prominent speaker within the homeschool community.  It appears to me that Mr. Dean made a decision to protect vendor sales at his conventions. Ken heavily criticized many compromisers of Scripture. Mr. Dean’s midnight email explanation only took issue with Ken’s criticism aimed at other vendors though. It’s Mr. Dean’s right to make this decision to protect his sales forum and vendors.  He should not, however, dress this decision up in “spirituality.” 

Mr. Dean attributes his decision to his “board of directors.”  Yet, neither his midnight email nor the subsequent public accusation this morning against Mr. Ham identify these individuals.  If Mr. Dean is going to invoke the decision and judgment of others, they should step out of the shadows and acknowledge their role.  

I think Mr. Dean made a business decision to ban Ken Ham and AiG.  The market should respond accordingly, to both the banning of Ham/AiG by Mr. Dean’s GHC and to the decision by Peace Hill Press and Dr. Bauer to publish Dr. Enns’ homeschool curriculum.  In the end, we should remember to pray for each other – to include for Mr. Dean, Dr. Enns and the folks at PHP – and do our best to honor Christ while defending and debating the centrality and reliability of Scripture.

Related: Great Help for Compromisers 

UPDATE June 10, 2011: Answers in Genesis Board of Directors’ Statement on Allegations by Great Homeschool Conventions, Inc.

Categories
culture entertainment theology

Save the planet!

Save the planet!

Be kind to the earth!

This common theme runs throughout contemporary American culture.  You see it all the time in popular music,  movies, and television shows.

This issue gets hotly debated, especially across political lines.

But how often do we look to see what God has to say about the issue?

I came across this passage in Leviticus:

“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations … lest when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”

-Leviticus 18:24-30

WARNING: This chapter in Leviticus contains a list of some of the most disgusting, vile, and deviant practices to ever be recorded in Scripture. But what is the warning? Don’t do these things “lest the land vomit you out“!

Few of us would even think to stoop to the level of depravity in Leviticus 18. But let’s celebrate the earth that God has given us by keeping our lives pure!

Categories
culture marriage and family Ministry

Gay Testimony

Several years ago, Tim Wilkins was a guest speaker for a Sunday service at the church where my family and I attend.  He was introduced to our large congregation with his darling wife with babe in arms.  With thousands of people in attendance, Tim talked about being gay.  Our church is a conservative, independent Baptist church. Very conservative.  People don’t typically stand up in the pulpit and talk about being gay there, ever.  I also wasn’t too far removed from serving in the Airborne Infantry where being, acting, or in any way resembling “gay” was … looked down upon, to put it mildly.  Seemed kinda akward to stand up in front of a thousand conservative Baptists on a Sunday morning and talk about what it’s like being gay.  But I soon came to realize that Tim is a brave man. He explained his homosexuality and gave a moving and powerful testimony, which can be read here, about growing up gay and how through his pursuit for Christ, he fell in love with a woman and left homosexuality.

His wife convinced him that God would use Tim’s past to reach men like himself for Christ.  Tim was a pastor and friends advised him he would ruin his pastoral career.  Tim listened to his bride and formed Cross Ministry to reach gay men with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  As I said, Tim is a brave man.  There are presently few if any areas more charged and filled with rancor than the intersection of Biblical Christianity and homosexuality.  Homosexuals insist that society normalize and recognize same-sex relations and punish those that would discriminate against homosexuals.  In numerous books of the Bible, Apostles and prophets expressly condemn and prohibit homosexuality and its concomitant acts.  Having been torn between these worlds, Tim stands at the crossroads to minister to homosexuals, to reach them with Jesus’ transforming love.

Tim recently sent out the following, which I think is an excellent testimony on what it means to rely upon and be transformed by Christ.  Tim’s lessons is applicable to each one of us:

A New Leash on Life

-Tim Wilkins

Man’s best friend had his or her day when the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show occurred the middle of February in the “Big Apple.” This was an occasion where one could honestly say “Madison Square Gardens had gone to the dogs.” And though the spotlight was clearly on the four-legged fidos, the most overlooked part of the show was that thing that connects dog to his or her master – the leash.

The master knows what he want his dog to do and the leash is his tool.

The Master, the Eternal God of all creation knows precisely what He wants us to do, but we – like those uncomprehending canines – think we know best.

Having reached puberty with the shocking awareness that I had same-sex attractions, I felt as if I lay at the bottom of the Mariana Trench – a body of water measuring almost seven miles deep. Raised in a Bible-believing church, I knew homosexuality to be wrong. What I needed to know was how to escape from this “thing” that pervaded my every waking thought. Thank God sleep allowed me a brief respite to my bewildered brain, but I could not sleep my life away.

I set out with preconceived notions as to how I would achieve freedom. When one idea fell flat, I moved to the next one and on and on I went. But I found myself still burdened under a profound adversity. Every which way I moved proved the wrong direction.

In his classic Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis addressed adversity using an illustration drawn from the domesticated but dumb dog. “If the dog gets its leash wrapped around a pole and tries to continue running forward, he will only tighten the leash more. Both the dog and the owner are after the same end: forward motion. But the owner must resist the dog by pulling him opposite of the direction that he wants to go. The master, sharing the same intention, but understanding better than the dog where he really wants to go, takes an action precisely opposite to that of the dog’s will. It is in this way that God uses adversity!”

Having first read that paragraph many years ago, I began a different path in finding freedom from that despair beyond description – same-sex attractions. Notice I wrote “same-sex attractions” not “same-sex activity.” Yes, while I had given into the temptation at a point in time, the despair, the horror, the emotional quicksand that preceded my involvement in homosexuality was the closest thing to hell I knew of – though I have never visited the place.

Based on Lewis’ illustration and my story, let me list a few tips for those persons wondering “how in world do I get out of here?” or “how in the world can I help my friend out of there?”

Relinquish ALL those preconceived ideas as to what YOU think the solution is. That means stop telling God what you want Him to do. He doesn’t need your advice. He really is “THE KNOW-IT-ALL!”

If your view of God is Him pacing His throne room, beads of sweat running down His brow and wringing His hands over this issue, be of good cheer; God is neither befuddled nor dismayed. Ask God what He wants you to do, not just about this particular issue but all of life. But beware of asking God what He wants you to do if you have no intention of doing it. You’re wasting your time, not His – because He is eternity. This unique concept of doing what God says is called “obedience”. You ask “Has it really come to that?” Yes, as Oswald Chambers wrote “God will task the last grain of sand and the remotest star to bless us when we obey Him.” Try it. Obedience is more refreshing and productive than giving God orders. I ought to know.

But you say “I don’t hear God telling me what to do.” He speaks to those who listen and as John Lloyd Ogilvie writes “You can not have the will of God in your life till you have the Word of God in your life.” Read more than the half-dozen or so classic Bible passages that address homosexuality. You need the whole counsel of God. Reading only the prohibitions to homosexuality provides a diagnosis (it’s a sin), but you need a prognosis.

Ask yourself what you really want. If your answer is to become a “former homosexual” or an “ex-gay”, you’re trudging the wrong road. (The previous answer would be correct if you want to be known for what you USED to be.) Let’s take this another step; if your answer is to be “heterosexual” you’re still off target. If your answer is – more precisely – to be attracted to the opposite sex, you’re still missing the boat. “Heretical” you say? Your answer should be “I —want— to— become— a— follower— of— God’s— only—- Son.” You say “well of course I want that” but do you – really? Chambers cut me to the quick and knocked the wind out of me when I read these words “Getting in a right relationship with God is the easiest thing in the world— unless it’s not God you want, but only what He gives.” Jesus said it this way. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) Peter Marshall said that verse is the most unbelieved verse in the Bible.

Freedom for me results through a rigorous reading of Scripture and a relentless reliance on Jesus Christ. No, I used the correct verb tense in the previous sentence. You think I should have used “resulted.” I depend on Him everyday. And I know what you’re thinking “you mean this is an ongoing effort?” I know of no better way to answer that question but to say this—while actor Harrison Ford played the role of Indiana Jones in a few movies, I live the adventure of Indiana Jones every day. I’m having a blast and I’m not even from Indiana. Why would I give up the adventure; that’s what God made me for.

Lewis continues “We truly can trust in the God who loves us with an everlasting love because He knows the direction we need to go, AND He knows exactly how to get us there!”

Did you know that another word for leash is “lead”?

(Permission granted to reprint; www.CrossMinistry.org )

Categories
culture encouragement marriage and family

The Legend of Valentine

The Roman Emperor Claudius II Gothicus, AD 268-70, is said to have been a large and fierce man.  In his efforts to fight the invading Goths and Germans, he attempted to increase the size of the Roman army.  Volunteers were few, due largely to what was essentially a life-long commitment of being a Roman soldier. Legend has it that the Emperor believed young men weren’t joining because they were too comfortable and too interested in pursuing women.  (Some things never change.  My classmates in college often were incredulous that I was volunteering for military service. I was often asked “Why?!”.)  With dictatorial efficiency, Claudius solved that problem by simply outlawing marriage.

One problem, legend has it that the Priest Valentinus continued to marry Christians.  When called before the Emperor, Valentinus refused to acknowledge the Roman Gods and reportedly witnessed to Claudius the truths of Jesus Christ.  Claudius had Valentinus killed.

A few observations from this legend of Valentine, whom we celebrate each year with a festival of love and affection. He was martyred over refusing to surrender the sacrament of marriage to Rome and for proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ to a pagan emperor.  This legendary Valentine sounds more like a man passionate for Christ and the integrity of the church and its sacraments than he does the ruby little cherubs we see on the front of Valentines Day cards who are committed to spreading kisses and romantic mischief.

If we want to celebrate Valentines Day consistent with the man for whom the day is named, we should honor this legendary martyr through observances he would approve and that would be consistent with his life.  Foremost, we should take the opportunity to witness the Gospel of Jesus Christ to someone.

Second, we should look for a way to support the sacrament of marriage.  For those of us married, that should start with tending to our own marriages.  Are we entirely faithful – not just physically, but also emotionally, in our relations, and with our time as well – to our life mate?  We should pray over our marriage, with our spouse.  For those not married, give an encouraging word to your married friends and pray today for their marriages.  Tell them you are praying for them.

Third, recommit today to loving in a manner worthy of our Christian calling — with all that we have and all that we are.  We are called not just to love others and God with all that we are, but to love also our enemies and those we just do not like.  May Christ so strengthens us.

God bless and Happy Valentines Day.

Update: A Godly Valentines Day Gift from a husband to a wife: commit to praying with your bride – see Spiritual Intimacy a Marriage ‘Game Changer’

Categories
culture entertainment

Dead Babies and Prime Time Babylon

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more. Matthew 2:18

And you took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and made them pass through the fire to the idols. Ezekiel 16:20,21

 K-Lo writes about MTV’s “reality show” about a teenage girl getting an abortion: Not That Innocent.  Excerpt:

Once she got to the abortion clinic, only clinic staff could be in the room with her. Afterwards Markai recounted their advice: “Don’t think of it as ten fingers and ten toes with a forehead and all that stuff. Because if you think of it like that, you’re going to make yourself depressed. …Think of it as what it is: a little ball of cells.” 

Related (courtesy ADF):

 

 Study: 24% of California babies are aborted 

NY Health Department: 41% of city pregnancies result in abortion 

U.S. passed 53 million abortion mark in 2010 

The rising abortion rate: 3 theories  

UK: Christian health worker faces sack over pro-life booklet

Expert: Abortion has led to 300,000 extra breast cancer deaths in U.S.

Planned Parenthood to implement abortion mandate by 2013 

Unborn twins interact with each other as early as 14 weeks 

Death of the pro-life Democrat 

 

Categories
culture

USA Christianity “megathemes”

To the extent our US culture as expressed through our entertainment, public education institutions, and laws does not sufficiently convey that Americans are walking away from our Judeo-Christian moral heritage in general and Christianity in particular, polling data from 2010 now confirms it: Christianity in the USA is rapidly loosing force as a social influence.  Barna recently published a summary of its surveys on Christianity in the USA in 2010.  Specifically, Barna announced that its research reveals six “megathemes” demonstrating how the religious environment in the USA is “morphing into something new.”  In summary, a majority of Americans are Biblically illiterate and ignorant of the most basic Christian truths. Not surprisingly then, faith does not rank high on the list of our priorities. For teenagers, faith ranks on average as a lower priority than travel.  Knowing God and eternal security are not at the top of our “to do” lists.  Perhaps as a result of this relative ignorance and lack of concern, Christians are increasingly silent regarding Christ and reluctant to share their faith, invite unbelievers to church, or otherwise proselytize.  The church in the USA increasingly does not take a stand on matters pertaining to Biblical truth and righteousness. For example, few churches today dare to defend the institution of marriage, either in addressing divorce from within its pews or by defending the institution of marriage in our larger culture and laws.  Again, as if we need polls to see this, the influence of Christianity on individuals and on our culture is largely invisible in today’s USA.  Barna provides more information and analysis in this excellent article – see here. 

We should pray for our country, for the church in the USA, and for our own courage to share the Good News, by our actions and equally importantly – by actually opening our mouths and telling what Christ has done and the difference he makes.  At the end, our “culture” consists of the beliefs and attitudes of our people — people for whom Christ died.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Romans 10:14-15

Categories
culture

10 Observations on 2010

 A majority of Americans want a made for TV, iconic, left-wing President, at least until he actually tries to implement left-wing policies.

A callous on the arch of your foot doesn’t hurt or cause problems, until you try to remove it with a utility knife.

It’s okay to like Noah’s ark, so long as it’s a cutesy little story confined to preschool walls.  The Ark strikes a nerve however when it’s built to scale and treated as something that really happened.

Still wasn’t a good year to sell your house.

Homeschooling moms are still a unique blend of saint, drill sergeant, multi-tasking guru, motivational speaker, and teacher.

In the United States, pornography remains the most popular content, with increasing numbers of children’s watching it and being exploited in it.  Yet no one wants to talk about it let alone do anything about it.  Homosexuality is quickly being normalized.  It’s increasingly clear that traditional and Biblical Judeo-Christian norms on human sexuality are being marginalized and even ostracized. 

Theme music for breaking out of worldly ruts – “Smash it. Break it. Shake it. Annihilate it.”  – Andy Hunter.  May God’s Kingdom collide with the World.  Collide.  Best album in 2010 IMO. 

Hanson’s Pure Cane Sugar Ginger Ale redefines what “good” ginger ale tastes like.

A fast bike does not make it easier to pace yourself and save yourself for the run in a triathlon.

Children grow up really quickly.

And an 11th for 2011: The older I get, the better cheeseburgers taste.

Belated entry: Bella – movie of the year …

Categories
culture encouragement Poem

While You Were Sleeping

Thanks to Casting Crowns for writing this song and making it famous:

“While You Were Sleeping”

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Looks like another silent night
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky
And while you’re lying in the dark
There shines an everlasting light
For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight

Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

Oh little town of Jerusalem
Looks like another silent night
The Father gave His only Son
The Way, the Truth, the Life had come
But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save

Jerusalem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
The Savior of the world is dying on your cross today
Jerusalem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we’re sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we’re lying in the dark
There’s a shout heard ‘cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night

America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping

United States of America
Looks like another silent night

Categories
books culture

A Tough Season for Believers – NYT

 Ross Douthat had an interesting op-ed and book review in Sunday’s edition of the NYTs.  Quoted in part:

Thanks in part to this bunker mentality, American Christianity has become what [James Davison Hunter author of To Change the World] calls a “weak culture” — one that mobilizes but doesn’t convert, alienates rather than seduces, and looks backward toward a lost past instead of forward to a vibrant future. In spite of their numerical strength and reserves of social capital, he argues, the Christian churches are mainly influential only in the “peripheral areas” of our common life. In the commanding heights of culture, Christianity punches way below its weight.

… . But both books come around to a similar argument: this month’s ubiquitous carols and crèches notwithstanding, believing Christians are no longer what they once were — an overwhelming majority in a self-consciously Christian nation. The question is whether they can become a creative and attractive minority in a different sort of culture, where they’re competing not only with rival faiths but with a host of pseudo-Christian spiritualities, and where the idea of a single religious truth seems increasingly passé.

Full editorial here.  The authors of these books, which I haven’t read, attribute the waning influence of institutional Christianity to the 1960s cultural revolution and the politicization of Christianity in the “culture wars.”  While these certainly played roles in how Americans view church, I believe that over the past century the academic and cultural elite’s cozy relations with humanist and materialist worldviews (e.g. Communism and “amoeba to man” evolutionary dogma), assaults in academic Christology (e.g. the Jesus Seminar and “modern” liberal theology), and rampant consumerism played more prominently in marginalizing the church and pushing the West toward a post-Christian culture.

Categories
Atheism, agnostic, evolution, etc. culture

Reactions and Reactionaries to the Ark Encounter

Judging by the hysteria in some quarters of the liberal press and blogosphere, you might think Sarah Palin was just elected president.  Aside from eliciting snide questions and backhanded compliments from Barbara Walters, Governor Palin is not presently the focal point of liberal angst.  While the media coverage has been extensive and overall positive, see e.g. here, the liberal literati express indignation at a theme park that shows the flood and Ark as history.  The editors of the two largest newspapers in Kentucky worked themselves into a lather in opposition to the park.  See here.  Genesis as history is unacceptable to many of our cultural elite.  Even Jay Leno, who is considered one of the more conservative entertainers, took shots at the Ark Encounter.  See here.

Jay Leno and the Kentucky editors simply reflect the perspective of our cultural elite who genuinely believe that the more a person reads the Bible as history and as the inspired word of God, the more ignorant and un-educated the person must be.  With the passing of each decade of the 20th Century, European and then U.S. cultural elites increasingly took aim at religion in general and the truth claims of Christianity in particular.  In the first half of the 20th Century, it was socially unacceptable to openly denounce basic Christian truths.  Since the close of the 20th Century, western cultural elites treat as unacceptable to publicly proclaim fundamental Christian truths, such as salvation through Christ alone, the inerrancy of scripture, the reality of Satan and an everlasting Hell.  To believe in the historical claims of the Bible is a cause for public ridicule, at least according to our self-proclaimed educated elite.  At the core of our cultural “elite” are those that make their living with words — the literati (a.k.a. chattering class) – journalists, professors, playwrights, screenwriters, and to a large extent attorneys.  Though they make up a tiny minority of our population, such elites disproportionately affect what we see and think of ourselves. 

The chattering class’ hostility to all things Christian is pervasive, for matters big (the Ark Encounter) and small (how we greet each other in December).  For example, major media outlets strip Christ out of Christmas.  Nearly 99% of network Christmas coverage is “Jesus-Free.”  See here.  Further, ever increasingly over the past decade, we are told that the word “Christmas” and the wish “Merry Christmas” are offensive. Perhaps to the chattering class, but not to the rest of us.  We are told to say “Happy Holiday” instead of “Merry Christmas,” despite the fact a significant majority of people in our country prefer to hear “Merry Christmas.”  See here. Very few, if any, are offended.  See here.  When it comes to Christmas and all other things Christian, too many of our chattering class colleagues are bah humbug Scrooges. 

The chattering critics insist rebuilding the Ark to biblical scale is an outrage or at least an embarrassment.  Again, they do not report that Americans disagree with such sentiment.  76% of Americans believe Noah’s Ark was actually built.  63% of Americans would take their family to visit the Ark.  (American Research Group polling data.) The outrage isn’t the Ark or keeping Christ in Christmas.  The outrage is a cultural literati that relentlessly assails all things Christian while pretending to reflect American culture.

Merry Christmas!

Categories
culture

Porn Undressed

“I will set before my eyes no vile thing.” – Psalm 101:3

“All healthy men, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, know there is a certain fury in sex that we cannot afford to inflame, and that a certain mystery and awe must ever surround it if we are to remain sane.” – G.K. Chesterton

Pornography is a huge industry in the United States, one of the largest.  As of 2004, porn was calculated to be a $57 billion year industry worldwide, with the US generating over $13 billion in revenue (but producing nearly 90% of the content).  The US ranked 4th in porn revenue, behind China, South Korea and Japan.  In the US, porn revenue is larger than the combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises. US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC (6.2 Billion). Child pornography generates 3 Billion annually. 

Since 2004, the supply of “free” hardcore porn video websites has exploded, which has likely impacted direct sales revenues of porn.  See here. While revenues in some porn quarters might be depressed, the amount of available pornographic content is exploding.  PR Newswire reports:

Predominant content on the Internet is pornography, which makes up 37% of the total number of Web pages online, according to a new study published by Optenet, … .  The report, which includes a representative sample of approximately 4 million extracted URLs, shows that adult content on the Internet as well as illegal content such as child pornography and illegal drug purchase has undergone a significant increase of 17% in the first quarter of 2010, as compared to the same period in 2009.

Tens of millions of Americans regularly consume porn, to include ever-increasing numbers of children.  Children between the ages of 12 and 17 form the largest group of viewers of Internet porn (Family Safe Media, December 15, 2005).  Porn particularly harms children and young adults.  Beneath porn’s alluring mask lies a vicious and pernicious perversion of God’s gift of sex and of life.   “Mainline” pornography often endorses, condones, and encourages abusive sexual desires or behaviors.  See here (warning – analysis contains further links to graphic images).  Foremost, porn teaches and condones rampant sexual immorality. Further, the number of children physically and emotionally damaged by pornography only continues to increase.  Porn damages children directly when children are sexually exploited in porn.   According to a National Children’s Homes report, the number of Internet child pornography images has increased 1500% since 1988.  Approximately 20% of all Internet pornography involves children (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Internet Sex Crimes Against Minors: The Response of Law Enforcement. Virginia: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2003).  Porn also indirectly harms children when it incites adults to sexually abuse children under their control.   See here. 

In addition to being a moral blight, pornography spreads disease, such as HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and herpes.  See here.

See: The Impact of Internet Pornography on Marriage and the Family: A Review of the Research

See also: Just Harmless Fun: Understanding the Impact of Pornography