It is no secret to those close to me that I love apologetics and see the lack of apologetics teaching in the American church as a major weakness today. But apologetics without the Gospel is just arguing. We aren’t in it to win fights, but to win souls.
PermalinkAsked by Kelly if they thought the backlash against the family had been greater because of what they stood for, including their Christian beliefs, Jim Bob replied, “I think, you know what, Christianity is not about being perfect or about being a perfect family, but it’s actually about being forgiven….
“People on the outside think, ‘well Christians are supposed to be perfect…’ No, you know what, all of us as Christians we struggle every day.”
Christianity is not about being perfect, but about being forgiven. That deserves an “amen” where I come from.
This family needs our prayers, Christians. The media loves when it gets a story like this. They love ripping apart a family. We need to pray that they can stand in the storm, through the power of Christ.
PermalinkHere’s the thing. We all have a sin problem. Often times we make mistakes that directly affect others. While sexual sins are often considered the worst, we must recognize that as Christ has forgiven our sins, so must we forgive others. If things are the way they appear to have been, 14-year-old Josh Duggar made some bad choices. Instead of taking this public and ruining his life, the family dealt with it in a biblical manner, seeking wise council and help from the Church. Forgiveness was sought and given. This was now 10 years ago.
As a church, we should applaud the way that this was dealt with– if this proves to be accurate— and see this as a model way of running our families when sin rears it’s ugly head.
We should also, as a church, pray for this family in this hard time. The world loves to drag out our sins and call us hypocrites. It makes it all the more important for Christians to publicly declare that we are not perfect, sinless, Jesus freaks. No, we are broken, weary men and women that have recognized our need of a savior. We need to pray for our fellow brothers and sisters that they stay strong under this attack and show what Christ would want.
PermalinkI have often seen this trajectory repeated in the lives of others. I have wondered how this pattern of pride could even happen. How could a young Christian given the anchor of God-centered theology be such a fool? Here is why: he’s not mature.
Such a great article. Probably because I have been there. Except that I had Twitter and Facebook. I often find myself looking back at my posts. I still agree with my words, most of the time. But my tone at times hasn’t been as refined. I’m closer to maturity today, but still have a long way to go. But I am glad that the author ends on this note:
Don’t bow to cultural expectations of Christian niceness. One way people like to get the upper hand in a debate is to claim you are being mean. What they really mean is that you are a nasty person unless you agree with them. So Calvinists have a mean spirit because they have a horrible God who predestines people to hell. Complementarians are mean because they subjugate women. People will point out Matthew 7:1 and tell you to be more like Jesus (except in all the places where he castigated people). You could be the nicest person in the world and still be called a bigot. The culture’s “be nice” police does not put up with disagreement.
This falls right into the running thread of tolerance in our culture. Disagree and you are deemed intolerant. Makes you question whether they truly understand what that word means.
PermalinkIf evangelical Christianity is growing, or at the very least remaining steady, why is Christianity as a whole shrinking and why are those who claim no religious affiliation increasing at such a rapid rate? In short, nominals — people whose religious affiliation is in name only — are becoming nones — people who check "none of the above" box on a survey.
Those who value their faith enough to wake up on Sunday morning and head to their local church are mostly still going. What I have described as "convictional Christianity" will continue. Those who say their faith is very important to their lives are not suddenly jettisoning those beliefs to become atheists.
This makes sense in regards to what Glenn Beck said yesterday:
It’s no surprise people are saying, “Christian, I’m not Christian.” Why would you call yourself Christian? Those numbers continue to dwindle for good reason. You define yourself as a Christian, and you’re going to be defined by society as narrow-minded, hateful, judgmental.
- Believing marriage between a man and woman used to be ammunition or still is used as ammunition to say you hate gays.
- Saying prayer in school is akin to forcing nonbelievers to conform against their will.
- Teaching intelligent design is literally likened to child abuse now, mocked as anti-science.
- Virginity is mocked.
- Being pro-life is being spun as a war on women
So growing up today as a millennial, that is damn near impossible. Who would intentionally put themselves in a crowd that society has deemed anti-gay, anti-women, anti-science? I mean, sign me up. It’s a harder sell to young people in a culture that bombards them with anti-Christian messaging, but I honestly don’t think that’s the problem. I think that’s part of the problem, but I don’t think that’s the real problem.
Those that in the past have identified as Christians because of a cultural affiliation— grew up going to church and still attend a couple times a year— are seeing what Christians are associated with today and are being forthright and honest: they’re atheists or agnostics. People are not leaving the Church in troves, they are just being honest that they are not Christians and likely never were. That said, evangelical Christianity is on the rise, though marginally. “[W]eekly religious attendance as a percentage of the U.S. population is about where it was in the 1940s.” Nothing to see here except news fodder, people. Nothing to see.
PermalinkGreat assessment from Beck:
It’s no surprise people are saying, “Christian, I’m not Christian.” Why would you call yourself Christian? Those numbers continue to dwindle for good reason. You define yourself as a Christian, and you’re going to be defined by society as narrow-minded, hateful, judgmental.
- Believing marriage between a man and woman used to be ammunition or still is used as ammunition to say you hate gays.
- Saying prayer in school is akin to forcing nonbelievers to conform against their will.
- Teaching intelligent design is literally likened to child abuse now, mocked as anti-science.
- Virginity is mocked.
- Being pro-life is being spun as a war on women
So growing up today as a millennial, that is damn near impossible. Who would intentionally put themselves in a crowd that society has deemed anti-gay, anti-women, anti-science? I mean, sign me up. It’s a harder sell to young people in a culture that bombards them with anti-Christian messaging, but I honestly don’t think that’s the problem. I think that’s part of the problem, but I don’t think that’s the real problem.
All great reasons, but then he points out how from the outside we appear to be hypocritical, argumentative, and worse. One might agree or disagree, but this point is solid:
The reason for this is, as every believer knows, we’re all human beings. We’re all flawed. We’re all liars and cheats and thieves to some extent. We’re at church, at least I am, because it’s a hospital. It’s a spiritual hospital, and we don’t recognize it as that.
I’ve made this point as often as I can, but again we should always make people aware. I am not perfect. I am not righteous, pious, or good. I am the wretch the song refers to. That is why I go to church. That is why I need Jesus Christ. Yes, my faith is a crutch. The difference between the Christian and the sinner is that the Christian recognizes that leaning on Christ is better than hobbling around all day. We are not better than anyone and we don’t want people to follow our lead. We want them to follow our leader, Jesus Christ.
PermalinkThe human body starts dying at age 25. Our twenties slap us with the expiration date of sin’s curse (Genesis 6:3): slowly, in our ligaments; tightly, in our muscle fibers; subtly, checking for bumps; decimally, with a rising BMI. We feel death in our twenties; emotionally and relationally, in ugly and odious ways. Death latches its chain to our frame, slowly pulling us deep into an answer to the question “Death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). Our twenties bring so many answers to that question — transition, failure, desperation, dependence, accusation, responsibility, moral failure, stagnation, unfulfillment. “Sting” isn’t sufficient. Our twenties can be a dark time.
Coming out of a very rough and dark weekend and a hard start to the week, this article is exactly what I needed.
Leslie Newbigin said, “I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist; Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.” Is Jesus irrelevant? How is wallowing in a dialectic of self-deprecation and self-pity going? Is that doing things for you? Is that doing more than Jesus has done? If so, get off this article. Get off the Internet. Go and drink and at the very least be merry, for tomorrow you die (1 Corinthians 15:32). But if you’re clawing for a grip — for something, anything — keep reading. Jesus actually changes quite a bit. Here are five things he offers.
Easily 1 Corinthians 15:32 has become a favorite verse of mine today. A kick to the gut that I needed. It’s amazing how those can come at the right time.
PermalinkLife is fleeting, if one thing can be a guarantee. We all go out. Some in a blaze of glory and others as a low whisper. One way or the other, our candle gets snuffed out. And once it does, do you know for sure where you’ll stand?
In a blink, you could be gone. You may have told yourself that you had time to think about this later, but life doesn’t work that way. All it takes is a blink.
Do you know what comes next? Do you know for sure?
We all know we’re not perfect. It’s like a meter is built into us. Something tells us that we make mistakes. This conscience is real and is a gift from God. You are not perfect, but perfection is what God expects.
You may think that faith is for the old, but death does not discriminate on age. You may think religion just a list of do’s and don’ts, but that’s not the way it was supposed to be. The law is to protect us from sin. The things God considers wrong can hurt us. Disobeying these laws is sin. Disobeying God is sin. This isn’t petty, but protective.
A perfect God judges perfectly. What crimes have you committed? Have you committed adultery? Jesus said that if you look on a woman with lust, that you have committed adultery in your heart. Have you ever looked at a woman lustfully? If so, you are an adulterer. Have you ever lied? If so, you are liar. Have you ever committed murder? Jesus said that if you call you brother stupid, you’ve committed murder in your heart.
If you were judged today, what would be the verdict? You might think that your good deeds might count for something, but imagine sitting for a judge in your hometown. You murdered your brother. The evidence is stacked against you. And so you plea with the judge, “Look at my bank account, sir. I have given so much money to charity! Look at my calendar: I have given so much time to help others!” But the judge is to judge you for your crime. You killed a man. You killed your brother. What should a just judge do?
The good news, though, is that your sin can be covered. The law came with a sacrificial system. Pay your due for your sins. Count up all the sins that you have committed and pay the fine.
Is the number too large, the task to hard? You’d be right to think so, because the law was to point people to the hopelessness of our sin. It binds us, holds us down. Even if we provided sacrifice after sacrifice, we would never be free from our sin.
But your sin can be covered. A sacrifice was made. Jesus, the Son of God, came down not to extend a sword, but a hand. This is why a Christian cannot believe that multiple ways to God exist. Our sin is the problem and the only way for it to be forgive is by a sacrifice. Jesus was that sacrifice, he was that pure lamb, the first of creation. His life was without sin, he lived by the law. But the purpose of his life was to take our sin away, so at the prime of his life, the government took him before a judge, accused him of things he wasn’t guilt of, and gave him the ultimate punishment: death.
You might not believe this story. You likely have heard it before. You might think that Jesus was just a good man, but that good man said he was God, man. He claimed to be messiah, the chosen one, the Son of God and God himself. You can do the research. I have. You can read it in the Bible or you can read what historians say. No historian disagrees with Jesus’ existence. No historian disagrees with what is recorded in the Bible about him. Some question whether he was right.
But would you take the chance that he was wrong? His followers didn’t. They followed his words until their deaths, often at the hands of oppressors and aggressors. Stoned to death for disagreeing with the establishment, crucified for teaching a different message, thrown in prison on a remote island to grow old. But in the face of death, their faith seemed to grow stronger and bolder. A sane man following a lie would not die to not look like a liar. At least one would break rank. But none did. Historical accounts show that the early Christians, those that saw Jesus after he rose from the dead, lived life at the edge, never fearing death and always preaching life everlasting.
Life is fleeting.
The story is not a lie. It is no fabrication. You will die. You will face judgment. You know what the verdict is because it is written on your heart. You know that you haven’t done enough good to outweigh your crimes. Blink and life is gone.
The good news is a single choice is all it takes. Make the choice to follow Jesus today. Not later today. Right now. The Bible says all you must do is turn from your sins, take up your cross, and follow Jesus. You are not expected to come to him clean. You’ll be cleaned by him. You are not expected to have things in order. He’s got you covered.
A blink can make the difference. Don’t blink and let your life be taken away. Make the choice right now. Follow Jesus. Assurance is given to those that follow him. Your sin will be covered. The judge will look at you and see his son. He’ll see what his son did. You don’t want the alternative.
PermalinkUsed to a lunch mob, Memories Pizza faces the lynch mob now for standing by their faith. The media has manipulated their words, after specifically hunting down a business that would stand by their faith, to make them look like horrible people. Because of this, they have received many threats and are unable to open their business or exit their homes. The mob has gone as far as threatening to burn their business down, by a teacher and high school coach no less. Luckily the school is taking action against this coach, suspending her and looking into further action.
Well, the people over at The Blaze are rallying support for this family-owned business on GoFundMe and have raised over $150,000 for them thus far. I emplore you to support them too. Threatening those that disagree with you is not tolerance and it is certainly not American.
PermalinkIn their minds, there exists the fundamental human right to a wedding cake, but not to life itself.
Regarding that which made me sick and that which makes me a bigot.
Speaking of which, interestingly, we’re told gays have the right to marry and buy cakes and so forth because gay is not a choice. And gay is not a choice, they say, because gays are gay from birth. And if gays are gay from birth, then the matter is genetic, and if it’s genetic then gays are gay even before birth. But if gays are gay before birth, then it would seem that they were them in the womb. In other words, whatever their nature is, their essence, they had that, they were that, in the womb. And if they are now what they were then, and were then what they are now, then either they’re people now and they were people then, or they weren’t people then and they aren’t now.
Such great words here.
A creature is whatever it is. It can adapt and change and grow, but it cannot alter its nature. It cannot morph from one essence to another. Once it is, it is. It cannot be just a potentiality. The moment it becomes, it is an actuality, not a potential actuality. You can’t be mere potential, because then you wouldn’t be, do you see?
Duh.
Look, this is elementary logic. Like, well below first grade level. So elementary that children (or “half-people,” using liberal terminology) understand it on an instinctual level. They might have to learn what a horse or a pig is, but once they’re taught, they’ll likely never ask whether a horse can be a horse but not a horse at the same time. No, it’ll take at least 12 years of public school and four years at college for them to get that dumb.
The Blaze writes a great article, again, that calls out the hypocrisy and stupidity of the progressive movement.
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