Commentary, analysis and opinion.

Children, Mums, Dads and the Gender Benders

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“It is not just religious conservatives who have problems with the transgender revolutionaries,” says Bill Muehlenberg. “Many others also have some valid concerns about it, and how it impacts our culture and our kids.” In this piece over at Culture Watch, Muehlenberg offers examples of non-religious people who have problems with the trans agenda. He writes:

That the trans revolution is causing massive devastation to countless families and children, as well as to society and culture as a whole, is something I have now documented numerous times. So too have many others. But our concerns are often dismissed as mere ‘religious bigotry’ and the like.

However I can assure you that there are plenty of non-religious folks who also have problems with the trans agenda and their radical take on gender (that it is fluid and a social construct, and has no biological basis, etc). Non-Christians, feminists and even lesbians among others have all expressed real concerns about the gender activists.

There would be plenty of these folks out there, but let me just highlight four of them who have spoken on these issues at various times. Consider as my first exhibit the lesbian academic and social commentator Camille Paglia. She has often been critical of feminist excesses, and is not too keen about the trans mania as well.

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Namaste, Satan

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Na-ma-stay is the pronunciation. It’s a Hindu salutation that is said at the beginning and end of most yoga classes. Participants place their palms together before the heart, bow their heads, and utter “Namaste,” which means “The divine in me bows to the divine in you.” But wait! We all know professing Christians who participate in yoga classes.  Many of them have been warned that there are spiritual dangers associated with yoga and are not concerned in the least. According to Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler, who has warned of the spiritual dangers for years, “The bare fact is that yoga is a spiritual discipline by which the adherent is trained to use the body as a vehicle for achieving consciousness of the divine.”

So, should believers avoid yoga altogether?  What about “Christian yoga“?  And what is the association between yoga and Satan? Pam Frost answers these questions in a piece she penned for truthXchange.  Some of what Frost reveals about this Hindu practice is chilling. She writes:

Photo credit: truthXchange

Namaste, Satan.

These are surely shocking words to the ears of most yoga enthusiasts, who find the association of yoga with Satan to be both disturbing and incongruous with their own understanding and experience of yoga. Yet, so begins an article announcing yoga classes to be held in the Satanic Temple of Salem, Massachusetts. How could something so widely considered beneficial in every way suddenly be associated with the devil? After all, yoga has achieved status in the West as the seemingly ubiquitous answer for the general well-being of just about everyone—from children in our public schools to the elderly in assisted living, from those with robust health in the prime of their lives to those with terminal illnesses nearing the end of their lives, and everyone in between. Many healthcare professionals recommend yoga for purported benefits such as the increased strength, flexibility and balance attributed to yoga’s postures; for the reduced blood pressure and heart rate attributed to yoga’s breathing techniques; and for the inner peace and global harmony attributed to yoga’s meditative spirituality. Yet, while most acclaim what they believe to be the positive benefits of yoga, William J. Broad, in his New York Times Magazine article How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body, warns that it can actually cause serious physical injuries such as trauma to the back, neck and head, as well as brain injuries and even stroke. But as Christians, we also need to ask whether there could be real spiritual dangers associated with the practice of yoga. We need to understand what the essence of yoga really is.

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A Manifesto of Christian Discernment

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Steven Kozar of Messed Up Church penned some guidelines aimed at Church leaders that deal with the monumental lack of spiritual discernment in the Church visible. Included in the Kozar manifesto are several video clips of celebrity “pastors” jumping, skipping and flouncing around on church stages in an effort to entertain parishioners who expect their pastor to deliver a fabulous show each and every Sunday. Also included is a photo of Word of Faith prosperity preacher T.D. Jakes’ “ridiculous and obscene mansion.”

Steve Kozar offers some no holds barred–and biblical–advice for Church leaders, plus this reminder: You’re a sinner that deserves God’s wrath, just like the rest of us. Jesus took the punishment we deserve upon Himself to set us free from sin and death; you didn’t do anything.

We will maintain a healthy skepticism towards all the big-name leaders in the church. No matter how famous a Christian celebrity might be, we refuse to be gullible just because someone has become a “brand name.”

We will check everything any pastor/teacher says against God’s Word, and when it comes to the most powerful, multimillionaire “Super Pastors,” we will assume the worst until convinced otherwise.

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How Jesus Called Out False Teachers and Deadly Doctrine

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What did the Lord Jesus do to expose the deadly doctrine and unrighteous actions of the false teachers of His day? Well, for one thing, He exposed their error publicly and then taught them the truth!  What are God’s people to do about all the deadly doctrines the Church visible is awash in?  We’re to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed … ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude 1:3

Blogger, author and book reviewer Tim Challies examines the way in which our Lord dealt with those He referred to as “ravenous wolves” in Matthew 7:15.  Challies reminds us that in Matthew 23, Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees and called them “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” “blind fools” … even worse, “you brood of vipers.”  So, while God’s people are contending/defending with false teachers who are spreading their manure all over the globe, is it appropriate to call them out, rebuke them, and do some name calling ourselves?

Let’s listen to Tim Challies’ advice on how to handle a wolf.  He writes:

It’s a good time to be a false teacher and to espouse deadly doctrine. It seems that today’s most brazen heretic will be granted a hearing and, in all likelihood, a book deal. Novelty is appealing, orthodoxy boring. It’s the ones who sound the warning and issue the challenge that bear the risk—the risk of being labelled “haters.” There’s more patience for those who smilingly subvert the truth than for those who boldly defend it. Conviction is a sign of arrogance, while humility is expressed in uncertainty. Love, it seems, requires us to bear patiently with any amount of error. And this kind of love, we are told, is modeled after Jesus. Jesus did not judge, Jesus welcomed all opinions, Jesus would have accepted different kinds of teachings—so long as those teachings contained love and hints of truth.

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Post-Shack Christianity: The Lesson We Must Learn About Vigilant Discernment

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“For close to a decade, a few discerning Christians have been warning about The Shack,” says Gideon Knox. “Unlike other books that are equally as bad, this one even attracted the ire of more prominent men like [Albert] Mohler and [Tim] Challies. And yet, few listened.” Dr. Mohler charged that the book contains “undiluted heresy.”  And he’s right. There are 13 heresies in the book.  Even so, a large number of professing Christians read the book and had no problem recommending it to friends and family.  Putting aside the controversy over the book, they rushed to theaters and filled their mouths with popcorn while enjoying Hollywood’s trashing of the Trinity on the silver screen.

Thanks largely to those who claim to follow Jesus, the movie’s a box office success.

In his piece over at Pulpit & Pen, Gideon Knox argues that discernment within the church is not vigilant and it must be. With this in mind, he has some excellent advice for pastors and church leaders. He writes:

While we should be thankful for the plethora of warnings about The Shack that have been published in recent weeks, there is still a cause for concern in Zion. Pastors and concerned laypeople have done an admirable job, by my estimation, of sharing articles on their social media pages, providing a polemical view of both the movie and the book. And even if the articles don’t include the word polemical, they nonetheless are, and they are obligatory warnings for our friends being carried away by the novelty and sensuality of a cinematic, modalistic, patripassian, whore-god who is an imaginary graven image of Yahweh, created and promoted by the money changers of the Christian book industry.

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Beauty and the Beast: Why Christians Can Calm Down

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Sara Wallace of The Gospel-Centered Mom reminds Christians not to panic. “Yes, Hollywood has an agenda,” says Wallace “but so do we. If Hollywood is trying to indoctrinate our kids then we must indoctrinate them first. You must speak of God’s word to your children ‘when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.’ (Deuteronomy 11:19)”

On March 1st my newsfeed exploded with angry moms. Our beloved Beauty and the Beast is GAY.
 
Well, not exactly. And perhaps that’s where we should start. Is this a “Gay” movie? Or is this just another worldly movie made by worldly people with worldly agendas? Believe me, I’m upset, too. But there is an important difference here worthy of a second look.
 
Al Mohler, at the recent Shepherd’s Conference, summarized this distinction well. He said there’s a difference between culture being infused into a movie and a movie glorifying a particular sin. Gay characters will be the norm in movies from now on. That’s the agenda. The question we should ask is: Does it glorify the sin, or does it discuss/portray an aspect of culture?
 
This is the culture God has appointed for us to raise our children in. We need to know how to live in it and interact with it. Our kids are watching us. Our response to this issue will shape how they live within this culture. As we respond to Beauty and the Beast there are two words that should not characterize us as Christian parents.

Basic Training: The Bible Is Sufficient

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Today there is a growing lack of confidence in the sufficiency of Scripture among Christians. Bible study author, speaker and blogger Michelle Lesley tells us why extra-biblical revelation is both unbiblical and unnecessary and offers six reasons God’s word is sufficient for our every need.  For example: What makes you so sure it’s God who’s speaking to you?

Good question. Now listen to Michelle’s answer….

God said to me…/I heard God say…

Listen for God’s voice…

God spoke to me in a dream…

God gave me a vision of…

We hear things like this non-stop these days in pop-evangelicalism. And it’s not just in the whack job Word of Faith or New Apostolic Reformation movements, or in Charismatic churches, either. These words are coming out of the mouths of regular, every day Baptists and Methodists and Lutherans and Presbyterians, too. It’s largely due to the infiltration of Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation false doctrine into our churches via a) “Bible studies” from false teachers like Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Priscilla Shirer, Christine Caine, Lysa TerKeurst and others and b) individual church members who feed on a steady diet of “Christian” television such as TBN, CBN, Daystar, and GodTV. Christians are getting the false idea that they need to hear, or should be hearing, God speak to them instead of trusting in the sufficiency of God’s word.

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The Beth Moore Cornucopia of False Doctrine, Mysticism, and Impassioned Frenzy

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Steven Kozar of Messed Up Church gives a whole host of reasons that author, speaker and Bible study teacher Beth Moore cannot be trusted.  Kozar has put much of her false teaching–yes, she’s a false teacher–into one place so that inquiring minds will have plenty of resources to explore what she teaches. Included are links to articles from Christians who have different theological perspectives, but according to Kozar “they all agree that Beth Moore’s teachings are not totally trustworthy and Biblical, and in some cases, she is teaching ideas that go directly against God’s Word.” Also included are sound clips so that we can hear unbiblical teaching coming from Mrs. Moore’s own lips, plus a video that shows her fawning over another false teacher, Word of Faith prosperity preacher Joyce Meyer.

Now to Steven Kozar’s exposé:

Beth Moore is a mainstream Evangelical superstar who speaks with an impassioned frenzy that inspires many women to become fanatical followers. She is not (officially) a pastor or theologian, but she serves both of those functions for millions and millions of people in the church. She first gained popularity in the 1990’s when her theology was viewed as middle-of-the-road, Bible-based, Baptist teaching, but her teaching has become more mystical and subjective over the years. Beth Moore sometimes refers to her own direct conversations with God in order to establish and validate her teachings, and she emphasizes unity in the church over sound teaching about important doctrinal matters. Moore has partnered with and endorsed Word of Faith false teachers like Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen and Christine Cain, and she is featured prominently on TBN:

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Air Force says words like ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ could be offensive

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Todd Starnes, host of Fox News and Commentary, has an exclusive on the United States Air Force’s attempt to ban words and phrases that might offend someone — phrases like “blonds have more fun.” He writes:

The Air Force fears that words like boy, girl, colonial and blacklist might offend people, according to an email sent to Airmen at Joint Base San Antonio.

An outraged Airman sent me a copy of the email – as evidence the military is still infected with Obama-era political correctness.

The email included an attachment that listed a number of words and phrases that might be construed as offensive.

Now, to be fair there were some legitimately offensive and racially charged words and phrases on the list. But also included on the list were the words boy and girl.

The email was written by a senior Air Force leader and was sent to an untold number of personnel at Lackland Air Force Base.

Airmen were advised to study a list of words and phrases that “may be construed offensive.”

Here’s a partial list of some of the dubious words and phrases deemed troublesome by the Air Force:

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Another temper tantrum on campus

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Over at NewsOK, Bernard Goldberg reports that a group of “infantile college students refused to listen to ideas that make them feel uncomfortable” so the students raised such a ruckus that the conservative speaker was forced to leave.  Both he and the professor that was escorting him off campus were terrorized by the angry mob.  The professor, a woman, ended up in the ER and is now wearing a neck brace. So much for tolerance.

Bernard Goldberg has the story:

The cupcakes have struck again.

This time it was at Middlebury College, a small liberal arts school in rural Vermont, where hundreds of cupcakes (also known as snowflakes) disrupted a speech by the conservative scholar Charles Murray.

The cupcakes say he’s a bigot so they wouldn’t let him talk. They chanted, “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Charles Murray, go away.” I think they threw in the “anti-gay” part because they needed something to rhyme with “go away.”

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See also How to Stay Safe When Everyone’s Protesting by F.T. Cage

 

School Teaches Zi & Zir Without Permission from Mom & Dad

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Todd Starnes, host of Fox News and Commentary, informs us that, unbeknownst to parents, children are being indoctrinated in the radical homosexual agenda in some public schools:

Indiana parents are furious after eighth graders at Lincoln Junior High School were exposed to a classroom lesson on sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity issues – without being notified in advance by the school district.

The 12-year-olds were required to watch a video titled, “LGBTQ: Understanding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities.” They were also required to answer a questionnaire with all sorts of probing questions.

Among the questions….

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A Culture of Counterfeit Christians (Reprise)

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Marsha West, General Editor CRN

Have you ever run over a dead skunk in the road?  I have, during a heat wave.  The smell got into my tires and permeated our garage for days!  I’ll go out on a limb and say that no one takes pleasure in the highly offensive smell of skunk spray, dead or alive.

My point in bringing this up is that to God the stench of sin is far worse than skunk.  For an example of just how much the Lord hates sin, grab a cup of coffee and read First and Second Kings.  But given our penchant for wanting everything now, here’s a snippet from 1 Kings 16 to illustrate how God dealt with one of Israel’s most ruthless kings:

Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.  (1 Kings 16:1-4)

God had already destroyed Jeroboam for his flagrant sins, yet Baasha repeated the same mistakes.  God rebuked the Israelites for their sinful ways and vowed to punish them.

Fast forward to 2017.  According to a recent Pew Research survey, seven in ten Americans identify as Christians.  If this is accurate then how is it that so many professing Christians behave pretty much the same way as the pagans did when Baasha was king?

Scripture teaches that Christians are to have a biblical foundation and that the Christian’s behavior should be Christlike.  Yet many who say they’re followers of Jesus wallow in sin!

Admittedly, when someone’s new to the faith it takes a while for the fruit to become ripe.  In other words, reaching maturity is a process. Sanctification, as the Bible calls it, doesn’t happen overnight.  There comes a time, though, when the vine brings forth fruit.  However, when a fruit tree remains barren year after year, one can’t help but wonder if the tree was pollinated.

One of my favorite pastimes is discussing (debating, dissecting) the Bible with brothers and sisters in Christ.  So it troubles me when I strike up a conversation with a long time believer who knows very little about the Bible.

Most Christians have heard the verse, “Sanctify [set apart for a holy use] them in the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17  Through reading and studying God’s Word, believers will learn about Christ, with their goal being to become more like Him. Moreover, they’ll grow in their faith and receive divine guidance on how to live their lives.

To have a close relationship with a person we must get to know them.  So the obvious course of action is to ask probing questions.  We’ve got to dig below the surface to uncover the intimate details of his/her life.  If we’re not interested in a meaningful relationship, we won’t probe!

Because our Father in heaven loves His children, His desire is to be in relationship with each one of us – to pull His beloved into a bear hug!  Those who sincerely wish to be in relationship with the Father must dig deep into the scriptures, because that’s the one and only place to learn about God and His ways. “What we believe about God,” said A. W. Tozier, “is the most important thing about us.”

Getting To Know YOU, Getting To Know All About YOU

Nothing should stand in the way of spending a few minutes each day with the King of kings and Lord of lords.  While we sit at His feet we can thank Him for our many blessings; we can pour out our hearts to Him and even make requests, trusting that the answers to our prayers will come.  Sitting at His feet, our hurts will be healed and our joy restored.  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Countless Christians admit to not reading their bibles regularly, they hardly ever pray, rarely attend church, they’re not in a Bible study nor do they study on their own.  Moreover, meeting with other believers isn’t a priority.

Getting back to my point—sin.  The Bible says Christians are not to tolerate blatant sin.  Furthermore, we must stop sinning.  Take for example sexual sin.  In this day and age, many professing Christians ignore the fact that one of the gravest sins we commit is sexual sin.  Having sexual relations outside of marriage (the biblical understanding of marriage is the union of a man and woman) goes against the clear teaching of Scripture.

In dealing with sexual taboos, C. S. Lewis pulls no punches:

Our warped natures, the devils who tempt us, and all the contemporary propaganda for lust, combine to make us feel that the desires we are resisting are so ‘natural,’ so ‘healthy,’ and so reasonable, that it is almost perverse and abnormal to resist them. Poster after poster, film after film, novel after novel, associate the idea of sexual indulgence with the ideas of health, normality, youth, frankness, and good humour. Now this association is a lie. Like all powerful lies, it is based on a truth …that sex in itself (apart from the excesses and obsessions that have grown round it) is ‘normal’ and ‘healthy,’ and all the rest of it. The lie consists in the suggestion that any sexual act to which you are tempted at the moment is also healthy and normal.  Now this, on any conceivable view, and quite apart from Christianity, leads to impotence, disease, jealousies, lies, concealment, and everything that is the reverse of health, good humour, and frankness. For any happiness, even in this world, quite a lot of restraint is going to be necessary; so the claim made by every desire, when it is strong, to be healthy and reasonable, counts for nothing. Every sane and civilized man must have some set of principles by which he chooses to reject some of his desires and to permit others. One man does this on Christian principles, another on hygienic principles, another on sociological principles. The real conflict is not between Christianity and ‘nature,’ but between Christian principles and other principles in the control of ‘nature,’ for ‘nature’ (in the sense of natural desire) will have to be controlled anyway, unless you are going to ruin your whole life. (Excerpt from Book III, Chapter 5, of Mere Christianity)

There’s no getting around it.  Sex without holy matrimony is a sin, so “quite a lot of restraint is going to be necessary” if one wishes to be God-honoring and obedient.

Just Follow Jesus

Our Lord spoke plainly when He said, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”  John 12:26   And, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15  Jesus wasn’t just addressing the apostles; what He stated was meant for all those who have placed their faith in Him!

Jesus also gave this warning:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit (John 15:1-2).

For clarification, Jesus Christ is the vine and the fruitful branches are Christians who, through a personal relationship with Him, will bear much fruit.  The unfruitful branches are the people who make a superficial commitment and bear little or no fruit.  The Father will prune the vine and discard the fruitless branches.

Those who professes Christ and behave like heathens may find themselves lopped off the vine – and not because God is mean and intolerant.  On the contrary.   God is long suffering, not willing that any should perish.

Holy Smokes!

Authentic Christians understand that God loves us…that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins…that His crucifixion was the ultimate act of love.  What many believers fail to understand, though, is that the Creator is holy.  Christians, of all people, should understand that we serve a holy God.  So let’s go to Isaiah 6:1-7 for a glimpse of the prophet’s vision of God:

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:  “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Bible expositor Matthew Henry describes Isaiah’s vision:

The prophet, standing outside the temple, sees the Divine Presence seated on the mercy-seat, raised over the ark of the covenant, between the cherubim and seraphim, and the Divine glory filled the whole temple. See God upon his throne. This vision is explained, John 12:41, that Isaiah now saw Christ’s glory, and spake of Him, which is a full proof that our Saviour is God. In Christ Jesus, God is seated on a throne of grace; and through him the way into the holiest is laid open. See God’s temple, his church on earth, filled with his glory. His train, the skirts of his robes, filled the temple, the whole world, for it is all God’s temple. And yet he dwells in every contrite heart. See the blessed attendants by whom his government is served. Above the throne stood the holy angels, called seraphim, which means burners; they burn in love to God, and zeal for his glory against sin. The seraphim showing their faces veiled, declares that they are ready to yield obedience to all God’s commands, though they do not understand the secret reasons of his counsels, government, or promises. All vain-glory, ambition, ignorance, and pride, would be done away by one view of Christ in his glory. This awful vision of the Divine Majesty overwhelmed the prophet with a sense of his own vileness. We are undone if there is not a Mediator between us and this holy God. A glimpse of heavenly glory is enough to convince us that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Nor is there a man that would dare to speak to the Lord, if he saw the justice, holiness, and majesty of God, without discerning his glorious mercy and grace in Jesus Christ. The live coal may denote the assurance given to the prophet, of pardon, and acceptance in his work, through the atonement of Christ. (Source)

I’ll close with a warning to those who profess Christ and act like the devil.  In his book The Holiness of God, Dr. R.C. Sproul explains that every single sin a person commits is a capital offense.  “Sin is cosmic treason,” says Dr. Sproul. “Sin is treason against a pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself.”

Resources:

Book: The Holiness of God By R.C. Sproul

Book: Know What You Believe: A Practical Discussion of the Fundamentals of the Christian Faith By Paul E. Little

Copyright 2014 by Marsha West.  Revised March, 2017.

 

Vaccines: They’re ‘Morally Right’ for Kids’ Health

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Dr. Meg Meeker of LifeZette, who is a pediatrician, shares her view of the child vaccination controversy:

Recently I shared an article I wrote addressing what parents need to know about vaccines. Understandably, it sparked quite the passionate discussion and excellent debate. Parents are always encouraged to have dialogue about and discuss important parenting issues; we must never shut one another down.

I would like to offer a bit of followup. My position as a pediatrician has always been to advocate for parents. You are in charge of your child’s health, and if parents in my practice choose not to vaccinate, I respect their opinions. However, in many pediatric practices across the country, this is not the case.

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The Den at the Epicenter of Hillsong for Youth?

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According to Churchwatch Central (CWC), degrading imagery of Jesus is being promoted in Hillsong’s youth den that will leave you dumbfounded.  “The Jesus used, the symbols around Jesus, the upside down Jesus with wolf ears and the word ‘Judas’ above his head (and a wolf blowing fire on him), the Jesus with the words ‘Wolf Man Wolf Man’ and a wolf eating at his heart, the hand of man touching a hand of death…”

CWC’s piece contains disturbing images they collected from Instagram photos of the mural that were posted by Laura Toggs (Laura Houston) and Hillsong artist Dodgepangburn.

So what does it all mean?  CWC’s offers their perspective:

NBRS Architecture states that,

“The Hillsong Epicentre is the second stage of a two stage project. Stage one included the 300 seat Hillsong Chapel and carpark, which were completed in 2006. Stage two incorporates a 500 seat auditorium with foyer and back of house facilities including: a green room, guest room, storage, a loading bay, a professional TV studio & TV control room, 3 TV edit suites, a smaller college training TV studio, a professional sound studio with 8 professional sound edit suites, a smaller college training sound studio with 4 edit suites, 3 band rehearsal rooms, 9 music practice rooms, 20 classrooms, 2 large seminar / meeting rooms that will be used by the college during the week and children’s ministries on Sundays, a specialised preschool children’s playroom, a large youth area, carpark area providing spaces for 300 cars. The Hillsong Epicentre is currently under construction and is due to be completed in January 2017.” [Source]

It appears that Laura Toggs (Laura Houston) has already decided what she wanted for the “large youth area.” It appears she wanted a massive mural for the youth. So what kind of mural did she allow to go inside?

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There’s A Wolf In the House: 18 Signs of Apostasy

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Over at Pulpit & Pen Matt Sherro puts forward what he believes are the characteristics of apostates:

There is a danger that has come into the sheepfold; apostates have come in and they probably have always been here. However, with the prevalence of social media, their influence has spread and it is more important than ever before to recognize the marks of an apostate, a person who at one time knew and maybe even taught the truths of the Bible but walked away or a person who consistently teaches false doctrines to the Church. Jude, the Lord’s youngest human brother, points out several signs of an apostate and I want to draw your attention to them.

Book of Jude (HCSB),

1 Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.

2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write and exhort you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all. 4 For some men, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into promiscuity and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

Right away we begin to see the characteristics of the Apostates that Jude warns about…

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The Shack Movie Bombs As ‘Evangelical Tool’

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Chris Rosebrough of Pirate Christian has some disappointing news for the evangelical community:  “If you were thinking that The Shack would be a great discussion facilitator so that your pagan friends would be interested in becoming Christians, think again. You have a greater chance of annoying your pagan friends with The Shack than starting a meaningful conversation about Christ and Him Crucified for their sins.”

More from Chris…

Just a few weeks ago Cru gave an non-endorsement/endorsement of the movie The Shack and even put together some study questions in the hopes that The Shack would be a great evangelism tool to introduce unbelieving friends and neighbors to Christianity. Now that the movie has been released how has the pagan world received The Shack? Have they thoughtfully begun considering becoming Christians as a result of this movie?

It would appear that the answer is an emphatic NO!

Here are just some of the reviews of the movie offered by secular critics:

“It’s one of those movies where you’ll either decide to give in right away and sob for two hours straight or opt to fight it while your resentment slowly simmers to a rolling boil.” — Entertainment Weekly

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See also: The Shack — The Missing Art of Evangelical Discernment by Albert Mohler

They Hate Everything We Love

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“Why do liberals hate God?” inquires Lee Duigon? “Because they’re after His job. They want to sit where He sits, and they insist that they can and will do all the things He should have done, but couldn’t do because He doesn’t exist.”  In his piece over at News With Views, Duigon considers the affect liberalism has had on society.  He writes:

Remember when they booed God at the Democrat National Convention, 2012? It should have told us what we were in for, but Mitt Romney found a way to lose the election in spite of that display.

Now, five years later, we have managed to win a national election—and Democrats are back to booing God. The latest example was at a Republican town hall meeting in Louisiana, hosted by Sen. Bill Cassidy, at which Democrat “protesters”—do they even know what they’re “protesting”?—loudly booed both the opening prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.

The prayer got them really riled up. “Prayer? Prayer?” cried one incredulous progressive. “Pray on your own time!” bellowed another. And a woman, at the top of her lungs, invoked the name of Lucifer, who runs American leftism when George Soros is otherwise occupied. They got especially raucous at the mention of Jesus’ name; and then they heckled and booed the recitation of the Pledge. At this point we usually hear liberals deny they’re anti-Christian and angrily declare, “Don’t you dare question our patriotism!”

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Eye Black Christianity: Tim Tebow, Clayton Jennings, and the Power of Celebrity

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Seth Dunn takes aim at “Christian” celebrities.  “Tim Tebow lives clean,” says Dunn.  “He visits prisons.  He helps out special needs kids.  He smiles.  He preaches about Jesus.  All of that stuff is good.  But exactly where is his influence leading?”  Dunn offers some answers in his piece over at Pulpit & Pen.  He writes:

“…He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”Isaiah 53:2

One of the worst nights of my life was December 6, 2008.  It was the night of the SEC Championship game in Atlanta, Georgia.  I had spent more money than this father of four ever again expects to have on the purchase of tickets to the game.  I had flown my brother in from Phoenix to attend the game with my wife and myself for his Christmas present.  We are die-hard Alabama fans, the real deal.  We are not the kind of bandwagoners you tend to find in SEC country these days wearing brand-new Alabama hats, purchased after the latest Iron Bowl.  Our Crimson Tide paraphernalia has age (what historians might call “verisimilitude”) – an unopened glass bottle coke with Bear Bryant on it, a blood-stained player wristband obtained outside of Neyland Stadium during the Stallings era, and a faded Dennis Riddle jersey.  In 2003, I cheered for Alabama in the student section of Sanford Stadium as a student at the University of Georgia.  At the dawn of the Fulmer era, my brother covered Volunteer football for the University of Tennessee student paper as an Alabama fan.  We are true believers.  By the time 2008 rolled around, we had impatiently waited through the folly of Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, Mike Shula and an NCAA probation for our beloved Crimson Tide to return to prominence.  They were undefeated.  All that stood between them, the SEC Championship, and a trip to the National Championship game was Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators.  Alabama controlled the game for three quarters.  In the fourth quarter, Florida’s Heisman-Trophy-winning quarterback led a comeback and the Gators defeated the Tide.  Our night was ruined.  You may have heard of that quarterback, his name is Tim Tebow.  He is famous for being one of the best college quarterbacks of all time and an outspoken Christian.

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5 Ways Christians Should Judge

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Author, speaker and national talk show host Julie Roys asks a twofold question: Are Christians supposed to judge or not judge? And just what is the Christian standard?

Here are Julie Roys’ 5 biblically-based principles concerning judging:

It happened when I posted something to social media lamenting author Jen Hatmaker’s disastrous decision to affirm gay unions. It happened again when I criticized a Saturday Night Live writer for attacking Barron Trump, the 10-year-old son of the president. Truth is, it happens anytime I make a judgment about anything or anyone.

“Christians are not to pass judgments, only state the truths,” one person commented.

“Christ taught us to LOVE EVERYONE. Judgments are for our father in heaven, not us,” said another.

And ironically, someone even stated, “You obviously are not a Christian because Jesus told us not to judge.”

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Should I listen to haters who hate The Shack?

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Amy of Berean Research has been labeled a “hater” for daring to expose the heretical theology of The Shack.  In this blog post, Amy explains why she will not sit idly by while Progressive Christians (liberals) reinterpret Scripture to make it fit with what our corrupt culture deems acceptable in this day and age. To Amy, truth matters.  She writes:

Why in the world would Christians ruin a perfectly great movie with their criticisms and negativity? Finally there is a film about forgiveness that helps people think in an out-of-the-box way about God, so why can’t they just leave well enough alone?

Those are the questions you may be asking, and if you follow this link from a well-meaning friend or you saw it posted on The Shack’s fan page on Facebook, welcome!

I am one of the “haters” you’ve heard about, and I want to take a moment and explain why I do what I do.  First, let me assure you that I don’t have fangs or horns. I’m just a woman who loves God and wants to be pleasing to Him.

And I do care very much about taking Him seriously when He commands us to love one another. He wants us to tell the truth always, even if it doesn’t earn us balloons and hearts from people on the Internet. I write because I love His sheep, and do not want them to be deceived or bamboozled in any way by the lies of the enemy of our souls.

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Kenneth Copeland’s Living Legacy of Heresy

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The following was written by Costi Hinn, nephew of notorious Word of Faith wolf Benny Hinn. At one time Costi shared his uncle Benny’s heretical beliefs and participated in his “healing crusades.” But no longer. Recently Costi shared what growing up as a Hinn was like in an interview with apologist Justin Peters. In a piece he wrote for Pulpit and Pen, Costi evaluates arch heretic Kenneth Copeland’s legacy and sheds light on Copeland’s (and other charismatic celebrities) relationship with the Pope of Rome. He writes:

Kenneth Copeland is 80 years old. Only the Lord knows the number of his days or where he’ll spend eternity but it’s safe to say that Copeland will be on the home stretch sometime in the next 20 or so years.

In this post, we’ll evaluate the living legacy that Copeland has compiled thus far.

From Flat Broke to “Billionaire” on Kenneth Hagin’s Heresy

When it comes to connections, self-proclaimed billionaire preacher Kenneth Copeland has them. By “connections”, I’m not referring to the layovers he takes when he’s flying around on one of his two private planes.[1] I’m referring to the vast network of word of faith pastors and partners who share his teaching. His ministry has built its entire foundation on the belief that you can claim health and wealth by speaking it into existence by faith.

With best estimates putting his net worth around $700 million (he claims to be a billionaire – by faith), Copland has used “name it and claim it” theology to rise to the mountain peak of the word of faith movement – but he didn’t do it alone. He has stood on the shoulders of heretical giants. Before his rise to prominence, Copeland cut his teeth in the lower ranks of the word of faith movement by learning from Kenneth Hagin, who copied E.W. Kenyon, then doing it better than either of them ever did. Kenneth Hagin Jr. explains how a young Oral Roberts University graduate came to become the best in the game:

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The Gender Identity Crisis for Today’s Kids

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In a piece over at LifeZette Dr. Meg Meeker, a pediatrician, declares: “When bathroom use at school is up for grabs, so are the psyches of immature children — shame on those with an agenda.”  Dr. Meeker explains why all children are confused by the bathroom controversy:

It’s been almost a year since I wrote about the issue of transgender students and bathrooms in schools, and it is time to revisit the subject.

One week ago, the Trump administration rescinded federal policies put in place by the Obama administration that allowed transgender students in public schools to use bathrooms and facilities that correspond with their declared gender identity. It is now an issue that will be dealt with on a state-by-state basis.

Writing as a pediatrician, not a political spokesperson, who has treated thousands of children over the past 30 years, it is imperative that we consider the emotional and physical health of every child when we make decisions that affect all of those children.

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Jiminy Cricket! Disney Goes Gay

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Todd Starnes, host of Fox News and Commentary, informs us that Disney XD shows two males kissing plus two females sharing an intimate moment. He writes:

Disney just broadcast their very first gay cartoon kiss.

The smooch happened during the second season of “Star vs The Forces of Evil,” a cartoon broadcast on Disney XD.

An audience scene shows two guys kissing and a later scene show two ladies sharing an intimate moment.

Disney is earning accolades for diversity and inclusivity among the LGBTQIA crowd.

There’s also word the upcoming live-action version of Beauty and the Beast will include a gay storyline – between LeFou and Gaston.

I figured it would’ve been the candlestick. But whatever.

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UK Prosecutor During Trial That Found Preachers Guilty: ‘Jesus Is Only Way to God Cannot Be Truth’

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In jolly ol’ England people are prohibited from stating diverse opinions in a public forum. So expect repercussions for agreeing to disagree with someone, especially when it comes to preaching the gospel. Christian News has  the story:

The U.K. prosecutor who presented the government’s case last week against two preachers who were found guilty today of “intentionally alarming” the public with their open-air preaching had argued before the court that the men’s speech declaring Jesus as the only way “cannot be a truth.”

“To say to someone that Jesus is the only God is not a matter of truth. To the extent that they are saying that the only way to God is through Jesus, that cannot be a truth,” prosecutor Ian Jackson declared, according to a press release issued on Tuesday by the Christian Legal Centre.

He contended that Michael Stockwell and Michael Overd had crossed the line by stating that those not following Christ are on the broad path to destruction.

“[Stockwell preached that] people were on their way to Hell because of their failure to adopt the worldview of Christianity,” Jackson told the court.

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For Lent, give up Lent

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Jesse Johnson of The Cripplegate gives us the lowdown on Lent.

A friend of mine was recently asked by a local youth pastor, “What’d you give up for Lent?” My friend quipped, “Lent.”

I can’t help but notice a growth in evangelicals who want to celebrate Lent by “giving something up.” I’ve heard of Christians giving up sugar, soda, Angry Birds, and Netflix (ok, I made up the last one—I’ve never heard of anyone giving up Netflix). For some evangelicals, apparently Lent is the new New Year’s. Those old resolutions were dropped by Feb 10, so time to dust them off and start over on March 1.

That is a bad idea. Here are a three reasons you should give up Lent for Lent: 

History—the idea of giving up something for Lent comes from a few factors—the growth of infant baptism, the increase of Roman Catholic traditions, and ever-changing Catholic approach to meat.

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