Bible

Tim Keller, Evolution, Creation & the Fall of Man

Posted by whatyareckon on October 22, 2021
Posted in: Bible, Creation, Evolution. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

‘Is evolution compatible with Adam and Eve and the Fall of Man?” as Keller says it is?

This question relates to an article by Time Keller on the Gospel Coalition website.  Tim Keller (MDiv, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) is founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Manhattan, chairman of Redeemer City to City, and founder of The Gospel Coalition.

Tim Keller was asked: If biological evolution is true and there was no historical Adam and Eve, how can we know where sin and suffering came from?

His brief answer was: Belief in evolution can be compatible with a belief in a historical fall and a literal Adam and Eve. There are many unanswered questions around this issue.

Keller followed this statement with a detailed article, which is mainly the opinions of theologians about the style of literature in Genesis followed by Keller’s own interpretation of Romans 5 and I Corinthians 15. 

Keller states he believes in an historical Adam and Eve but does not explain how this is compatible with evolution, since Darwin himself described evolution as the “war of nature” and claimed that long ages of famine and death brought about “the production of higher animals”.  (Darwin, Origin of Species, 1859)  This is the exact opposite of God’s description of the original created world as “very good”(Genesis 1:31).

So we wonder if has ever bothered to compare such processes to what God said in Genesis 1 and 2, or if Keller really understands evolution, and the processes claimed to bring it about,  so let us do that.

Modern day evolutionists use less emotive terms than Darwin, such as “selective advantage” but the process is still the same.  This is a flat denial of Genesis 1, which culminates with God looking at all that He had made and declaring it to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31).  Darwin and his successors also regard human beings as simply “higher animals,” which is another complete denial of Genesis.  Human beings are unique creations made in the image of God.

Keller tries to avoid the issue by referring to various theologians who clearly do not believe Genesis 1 and 2.  For example Keller refers to Bruce Waltke who claims that forming Adam from dust of the ground could mean “the author might be speaking figuratively in the same way, meaning that God brought man into being through normal biological processes.” 

Keller and Waltke (and their followers) should take note: there are no normal biological processes that turn dust into people.  It works the other way around, i.e. people turn to dust – it is happening all the time, but that is a destructive death process and the opposite of a creative process. 

Keller spends a lot of time naming names such as C. S. Lewis and hiding behind their opinions. After meandering through the opinions of such theologians Keller summarises his section on Genesis: “In summary, it looks like a responsible way of reading the text is to interpret Genesis 2-3 as the account of an historical event that really happened.”  If that is what Keller really believes, he should say so straight away and affirm what the text actually states. 

So let us clearly state what the Biblical text does says.  The first thing we are told about the creation of human beings is they were special creations made in the image God (Genesis 1:27-28).  We are then given details of how God did this in Genesis 2.  Adam was made from “dust of the ground,” i.e. raw materials, not some pre-existing animal, and Eve was created from tissue taken from Adam.  This is either an accurate description of what God actually did or it is a fairy tale.  If it is a fairy tale it has no authority, and sceptics, liberal theologians and other unbelievers are justified in scoffing at it.

There is a theory promoted by John Stott and others that God somehow “stamped His image” on a pair of the evolving hominins that had come into being by evolutionary processes, but this cannot be reconciled with the description of the creation and man and woman in Genesis.  For more a more detailed critique of this theory see the question: HUMAN EVOLUTION? Does it create any problems for Christians who believe it?  Answer here.

Anyone reading Genesis 1 and 2 will straight away see that it is not compatible with the evolutionary story of how human beings arrived on the planet, and what a ‘non-good’ state the world was in if evolution was true.

Keller claims he believes in a historical Fall of Man but does not go into details concerning  Genesis 3 or the chapters that follow, so let us  provide them.  After judging the serpent and promising a Saviour who would defeat the serpent, God sentenced Adam and Eve to death and cursed the ground.  From then on the living world degenerated into violence, disease and general degradation – all things that are not good.  If death, disease and struggle had already been in the world, these would not be punishments.  Again, there is a clear incompatibility between Genesis and evolution. 

Rather than dealing with the actual events of the Fall of Man, Keller goes straight to Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 and correctly states that Paul believed in a literal Adam and we should too.  However, Keller reveals his own “pick and mix” attitude to the Bible when he states:
“The key for interpretation is the Bible itself. I don’t think the author of Genesis 1 wants us to take the “days” literally, but it is clear that Paul definitely does want readers to take Adam and Eve literally. When you refuse to take a biblical author literally when he clearly wants you to do so, you have moved away from the traditional understanding of biblical authority.”  (word “days” in inverted commas in original)

What Keller really means is that he doesn’t want to take the days of Genesis 1 literally, presumably so as not to upset those who believe in an old earth and millions of years of evolution. 

If Keller wants to use the Bible as the key to interpreting itself, let’s see what it says about the days in Genesis.  In Exodus we are told that God spoke and wrote down the Ten Commandments, which include this statement:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

It is clear from the context God is speaking about real days, not some vague long periods or symbolic times.  We would also remind Keller that the Creator who spoke and wrote down these words is Christ, who made all things (John 1:3).

For further details see the question: CREATION DAYS: Were the days of creation, as described in Genesis 1, real 24 hour days?  Answer here.

Keller goes on to explain how we can benefit from Christ’s death.  He states: “We are in covenant with him, not because we are related biologically but through faith.” 

This is half-truth. Yes, we are in a covenantal relationship with Christ through faith, but it is only effective because we are biologically related, and Christ is our Kinsman Redeemer.  Only a relative can be a Kinsman Redeemer.  If we go back through the generations, the entire human race can be subsumed into Adam.  All human beings, including Christ in His incarnate form, are descendants of Adam, so we are biologically related to both Adam and Christ, and that is why the covenant applies to us. 

Keller skips over the real link between Adam, Christ and us, and completely ignores how death really came into the world.  Paul makes it very clear that Adam’s sin brought death into this world, and Christ’s death and resurrection brings eternal life in the next.  This is the real basis of Paul’s “one man” principle in Romans 5.  One man, Adam, brought sin and death into the world; one man, Christ, paid the penalty, which made forgiveness and new life freely available for all people.

Finally, we have a challenge for Keller and all evangelical Christians who believe that Christ’s death and resurrection will bring them eternal life in a New Heaven and Earth. Think carefully about this question: What will that new world be like?  If God created the first earth through a long process of struggle and death, and declared that to be “very good” can we trust Him to keep those things out of the New Heaven and Earth that Christ’s death and resurrection enables us to live in for eternity?  Sadly the Gospel Coalition is increasingly characterised by such half truths concerning the gospel. Wake up guys!’https://askjohnmackay.com/tim-keller-on-evolution-adam-is-evolution-compatible-with-adam-and-eve-and-the-fall-of-man-keller-says-it-is/

What Is the Primary Cause of Division in the United States?

Posted by whatyareckon on October 15, 2021
Posted in: America, Australia, Bible. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

‘Our country is divided.  Many say it is more divided than any time since the Civil War.  Most of you readers live here, so this is no surprise to you.  Many articles and even whole books have been written in the last decade on the division in the United States, but the present situation provoked some to write in the last month on the subject.  The following paragraph represents writing in the last month on severe division in America.

The City Journal published an article by Andrew Klavan, titled, “At the Heart of Our Divisions.”  Klavan, part of Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire, tries to explain the division as others have. Newsweek reports that a “Majority of Trump Voters Want to Split the Nation Into ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ Halves.”  The Las Vegas Sun reported it this way:

A new political poll offers an alarming look at the state of American unity and our population’s respect for some of the nation’s core values.

The poll, conducted by the University of Virginia’s nonprofit Center for Politics, shows that 52% of respondents who voted for former President Donald Trump were in favor of splitting the country into red and blue states, while 41% of voters for President Joe Biden agree with the idea. More than 2,000 voters participated in the poll, nearly equally divided between those supporting Trump and Biden.

Ed Kilgore at The Intelligencer, part of New York Magazine, writes, “No, We Can’t Get a National Divorce There’s growing sentiment for secession, particularly on the right. It should be rejected.”  At Substack, Claremont senior fellow David Reaboi writes, “National Divorce Is Expensive, But It’s Worth Every Penny.”  Karol Markowicz writes at the New York Post, “Sorry, but a national split up just won’t work.”  Steven Malanga at the City Journal writes, “The New Secession Movement.”  Conservative commentator Rich Lowry writes at Politico of all places, “A Surprising Share of Americans Wants to Break Up the Country. Here’s Why They’re Wrong.”  Dan Rodricks writes at the Baltimore Sun, “Civil war unlikely, but the nation’s present course could still be disastrous.”  Most of these were written in the last week, and there are more.

Okay, so there’s division.  Everyone can agree with that.  Putin of Russia and Xi of China smile.  Why though?  I’ve read or heard a lot of different reasons:  media, tribalism, the education system, the deep state, and more.  Klavan lists reasons in the first paragraph of his post.  Those are typical, whole books written about them, but I believe these are surface reasons, I would call, non-worldview reasons, that are superficial and don’t dig deep enough.

My take on the acute and bitter division between states, people, and parties in the United States, I want to give credit, corresponds to something Nancy Pearcey writes about in her book, Total Truth.  She explains a division portrayed by the lower and upper stories of a building or house with the lower story being “facts” and the upper story being “values.”  Today you hear a lot about facts in the media, news, and schools.  This is the “science is real” at the top of the leftist value sign.  In this upper and lower story bifurcation, values are probably not what you think they are.  Let me explain.

God is One.  Truth, which proceeds from God, is also one.  Pearcey’s proposition is “total truth,” the title of her book.  There are not two stories that treat facts different than values, where values are constructed, personal and subjective.  You can’t really know these with certainty.  No, with God His natural laws, facts or science, are no different than moral laws.  If you fall from the edge of a cliff, gravity sends you down to destruction.  Breaking moral laws also destroys.  Worse even.  God is the Author of both.

Premoderns took a transcendent view of the world.  Truth, goodness, and beauty, the transcendentals, all related to God.  God transcending the world is the basis of the transcendentals. He’s not part of the world.  He created it and having created it, He is separate from it.  As James 1 says, that with God there is no shadow of turning.  God is holy.  He is Self-existent and immutable.  Nothing affects Him.  All meaning comes from God, so truth, goodness, and beauty, the transcendentals, are objective.

This world is God’s world. Even if someone doesn’t believe in God, they are living in His world.  This is reality.  The division breaks down into those who live in reality, recognition that this world functions according to laws according to which everyone must live, even if they reject the God of the Bible, and then those who don’t live in reality.

The ones not living in reality, which are one side of the division in the United States, see the top story, values, how they want to see them.  It’s one reason they are called “values,” and not “morals” or “moral laws.”  Using “values” is using language with power.  Incidentally, part of critical theory is perfecting this language for use in reconstructing reality.

Looking at the world like two sides of the campus, religion, art, etc. on one side and then science, math, and engineering on the other, the blue part of the country thinks they can assign their own meaning on one side of the campus. They ultimately don’t want God in charge.  They don’t want objective values that clash with what they want, so they make up their own and dismiss God or make up their own god that approves of their values.  This is the basis for the Democrat party booing God when voting on their political platform in 2012.  This is also how they justify killing babies.

The truth is that the blue states, people, etc. now assign their own meaning to science as well.  They call it science like hanging out a shingle, pulling science out of a Cracker Jack box.  Their subjectivity on the upper story, think of it as bad plumbing, has burst through into the lower story like a broken pipe.  That side can’t tell you that a girl is a girl.  This is one reason why many don’t want to go to college in this country anymore.  They know it’s a racket that is not living in reality.

One side of the division in the country wants the nation to be called like it really is.  Borders are representative of this.  You can’t be a nation when you don’t protect, not just protect — how about acknowledge that you have a border.  Whatever one thinks about the virus and masks and the vaccination, it’s understandable why a big chunk of the country doesn’t trust authority on this.  I’m not going to even get into what Fauci has said.  He doesn’t speak science and this is demonstrative on multiple occasions.

The government, the media that supports it, and now even corporations are all in on the lies. They allot whatever meaning they want and they expect you to receive it.  If you don’t, now they’ll even prosecute you.  They’ll fire you.  If you don’t put on their particular pin, which supports whatever lie that they deem correct, you might lose your job.

I believe most churches too have succumbed to the two stories I’ve described.  They put beauty, music, dress in the personal, the subjective, the top story.  They capitulate on basic doctrine and practice to accommodate for popularity and numbers.  Their targets see the world according to the lie of these two stories.  They know it and they concede to it.  This does not bode well for the country.  Even if the nation does split into two parts, what will happen to the red side when the churches have taken the same basic approach to truth?  This is the most fundamental aspect of worldliness in churches today.

Another metaphor to demonstrate what the division of truth, the two story view, does to the country is a rudderless ship.  The country has no certain belief to hold it together or to give it direction.  It moves according to whatever current or wind produced by the world, like a float or a bob on an aimless sea.  The force of popularity, what scripture would call lust, the combined desires of the population, decides what is it’s truth, it’s goodness, and it’s beauty, whatever each of these is in their own eyes.

Everything above explains the division in the country.  Maybe the next question is, what is the solution to this division?  That, my friend, is much more difficult.’https://kentbrandenburg.com/2021/10/10/what-is-the-primary-cause-of-division-in-the-united-states/

Don’t Debate God’s Word, Obey It!

Posted by whatyareckon on October 14, 2021
Posted in: America, Bible. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

It shouldn’t be a hard decision but it is for some even when the Scriptures explicitly say in Romans 1:21-27 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

God’s Word isn’t up for debate but for obedience! Nevertheless, ‘This week, North America’s oldest denomination will confront its gridlock over LGBTQ ordination and same-sex marriage. Votes cast in Tucson, Arizona, at the Reformed Church in America’s General Synod — delayed 16 months due to the pandemic — will chart the course for the already-splintering denomination.

In the past year, conservative factions have broken ties with the Reformed Church in America (RCA), with other churches threatening to follow. Delegates to the synod, which starts Thursday and will continue through Tuesday, will determine how the denomination might restructure to entice congregations to stay, if the church will establish an external mission organization and whether departing congregations can plan on taking their church buildings with them.

“At General Synod, delegates come from across the RCA to discern the mind of Christ together,” said Christina Tazelaar, RCA director of communications. “There are difficult decisions on the agenda, along with many things to celebrate, and we’re praying that the Holy Spirit guides every decision.” 

The RCA is a historically Dutch Reformed denomination dating back to the 1620s, when New York was known as New Amsterdam. Today, the RCA has fewer than 200,000 members and 1,000 churches. While in theory RCA churches are united by their polity, history and Reformed convictions, they hold a range of political and theological beliefs.

The RCA isn’t the only Protestant denomination facing division over views on sexuality. Next year, the United Methodist Church is expected to vote on a proposal to split the denomination over the inclusion of LGBTQ members, and the RCA’s sister denomination, the Christian Reformed Church, will grapple with its contentious human sexuality report at its own synod.

“It’s a case study in how a church can or cannot navigate questions of identity, questions that are tense, matters of conflict,” said Matthew van Maastricht, pastor at Altamont Reformed Church in Altamont, New York. “We are just one part of a greater reshaping of the broader American Protestant landscape.”

According to the Rev. Dan Griswold, clerk of the RCA’s Holland Classis, the RCA debates involve specific questions: Can an RCA church host a wedding between a same-sex couple, and can an RCA minister officiate such a wedding? Can noncelibate gay people be elected as elders and deacons and ordained as ministers? While these questions are often framed as political, they are also theological.

“It’s really about how we view the Bible, how we understand God and the nature of the church,“ said the Rev. Lynn Japinga, professor of religion at RCA-affiliated Hope College. “It’s a fundamental difference in approach to the Christian faith that’s the source of all this. … Do you have more of a rule-based faith, or do you have a more grace-based faith?”

Ron Citlau, senior pastor of Calvary Church near Chicago, frames the question differently.

“I’ve dealt with same-sex attraction, and the issue for me and many of the people I know is, is it a thing for which Jesus Christ needs to come to redeem us, or is it a blessing he wants us to embrace?” said Citlau, who is married to a woman and whose church helped form the conservative non-RCA Kingdom Network. “If we get sin wrong, there are larger things at stake.”

The debate is also a question of polity. The RCA has a localized structure that gives classes — regional church groups — authority over matters such as discipline and ordination. While all RCA churches follow the Book of Church Order, they don’t have to follow the General Synod’s recommendations.  

“There’s nothing in the Book of Church Order that says anything explicit about sexuality at all,” said David Komline, associate professor of church history at Western Theological Seminary. “The General Synod has repeatedly made statements that are more traditional in orientation about sexuality, but those are just statements. There are no mechanisms in place to hold people accountable to these statements.”

An ongoing question is whether the General Synod ought to be able to make dictates it can enforce. In recent years, conservative RCA members have pushed for General Synod to do just that. In 2016, the General Synod voted to amend the Book of Church Order to define marriage as between a woman and a man. However, the measure failed to win the necessary two-thirds approval from the classes.

“We found that the RCA is designed in such a way, intentionally or not, in which the vast majority cannot move to what they believe is right because there are just enough progressive classes that can veto,” said Citlau. According to Citlau, the two-thirds rule gives disproportionate power to classes with progressive views and fewer members. But progressive members argue the General Synod was never designed to issue top-down decisions in the first place.

In 2018, General Synod formed a team charged with discerning whether the RCA should stay together, restructure or separate. In their Vision 2020 Report, that team suggested a path involving all three avenues. First, the report recommends appointing a team for reorganizing classes by affinity rather than geography; churches would opt into classes and group themselves by shared values. The second proposal is to create an external RCA mission agency that would allow departing churches to continue supporting RCA’s global missions work. Third, the report recommends allowing a departing church to retain its property and assets.

These three proposals are scheduled to be debated on Saturday and require a simple majority of votes to pass — but the measures could be radically amended before then, and other overtures could be adopted as well.

Regardless of what happens at the General Synod, the RCA is already splitting. The Kingdom Network, an alliance currently composed of five churches in Indiana and Illinois, officially left the RCA on Sept. 9. The group was formerly an RCA classis that prioritized church planting.

“The RCA has this albatross around its neck, and historically it moves very slow,” said Citlau. “From our point of view, the house is burning. We can’t keep saying, we’re going to wait five more years and have a couple of committees. It’s already a bloody mess, and until you’re willing to get in there and make some choices, there’s no way through. And we did our best effort to make a way through.”

In May 2021, the Alliance of Reformed Churches was formed as an alternative to the RCA for conservative churches questioning their place in the denomination. According to their website, more than 125 churches have expressed interest in joining the alliance.

“The Alliance of Reformed Churches is praying with the RCA for the clear leading of God’s Spirit at its General Synod,” the Alliance said in a statement. “Our prayers will be with our brothers and sisters as they walk together through this significant moment in the RCA’s history.”

More departures are likely on the way. The 2020 Vision Report said: “We have informally learned of entire classes’ intention to exit the denomination in the near future.” These departures have been a long time coming; the RCA has been debating sexuality and LGBTQ inclusion since the 1970s.

“People on different sides of the spectrum have been fighting for about 40 years, and they’re sick of it,” said Komline. “They believe their fighting is impeding their mission. I think that’s the case on both sides. The liberals want to go pursue justice, as they define it, and the evangelicals want to share the gospel as they define that.”  

According to Griswold, these divisions can be traced back even further. The RCA was originally formed by several waves of Dutch immigrants. Those in the earlier waves settled along the East Coast, where they eventually developed sensibilities that resembled those of their mainline peers, while migrants who came in the 19th century often settled further west. Today, the cultural and theological divides are still evident. All except five of the 44 churches listed as LGBTQ-affirming by Room for All — an LGBTQ-affirming network in the RCA — are in the Northeast.  

“As America as a whole has shifted, the RCA has experienced some similar shifts,” said Komline. “Just as America now is very polarized, so is the RCA.”’https://julieroys.com/reformed-church-in-america-faces-rupture-lgbtq-gridlock/?mc_cid=2930a15c78&mc_eid=b13d34ad49

Meeting God in the Morning

Posted by whatyareckon on October 14, 2021
Posted in: Bible, Christian. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. (Psalm 5:3)

Bible study, meditation on the Word, and prayer are necessities for a healthy Christian life and are good to practice at any time of the day or night, according to the constraints of time and responsibilities of each individual. Other things being equal, however, the best time of all is in the early morning. A believer who awakens each morning to the voice of the Lord in His Word will, in turn, be ready to speak words of blessing to others through the day (Isaiah 50:4). And as we, in turn, look up to Him each morning in prayer, He will hear and direct our steps through the day.

This was the example set by the Lord Jesus Himself: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35). If even Jesus Christ needed such a quiet time early in the morning set aside to fellowship with His Father, we also would do well to follow.

Note the prayer of David: “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee” (Psalm 143:8). We urgently need to know the way we should walk each day, for it is so easy to get turned aside into our own ways, and the obvious time to pray for guidance is at the very beginning of every day.

One should not make a legalistic ritual of prayer and Bible meditation, of course, for it should come from a heart of love whenever and wherever it can be done, whether morning or evening. However it may work for each person, may God help us to say with the psalmist: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day”’https://www.icr.org/article/13016/?utm_source=phplist9629&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HTML&utm_campaign=October+13+-+Meditation+in+the+Morning

Why Birds Don’t Need Socks

Posted by whatyareckon on October 11, 2021
Posted in: Bible, Biology, Creation, Evolution. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I attended a public high school and thank the Lord I had a biology teacher that spent only one hour in seeking to explain evolution. However, I do remember when she was sick for several days and we had students from the University of Iowa substitute and they sought to push the evolutionary theory during those few days. Now, I wasn’t a real knowledgeable student in creation science or the Bible back then but I did ask questions which made the substitute teachers just a little upset. Anyway, as I grew in my faith and researched things I became more and more convinced that in the beginning God….

The Silencing of Christians

Posted by whatyareckon on October 7, 2021
Posted in: America, Australia, Bible. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Across Australia and ‘Across America today, there is a move to silence Christians.

There’s a massive effort on the part of social media, the biased news media, politicians and bureaucrats to silence Christians from speaking on moral issues, political issues, and even the truth about Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, many Christians are caving in and compromising, including pastors and church leaders.

Here are 6 things every Christian should know:

#1. Freedom of worship – today’s megatrend.

Freedom of worship is what President Biden and those hostile to evangelical Christians believe in.

This is in contrast to freedom of religion.

Freedom of worship means you can believe what you want, but you cannot share it.

This is what you find in many socialist and communist countries: you can believe in Jesus Christ, but you have to keep your beliefs to yourself.

This megatrend is based on the fact that they want a consensus that’s not offensive to anyone.

Don’t disagree with the culture…or the politicians and bureaucrats.

Don’t speak out about truth or your faith.

Don’t say anything that would offend anyone.

If what you say is “hurtful,” you need to be silent.

If what you say makes someone uncomfortable, you need to be silent.

If you want to share the gospel, you need to make sure it’s not offensive.

If it is, it’s disallowed.

In ancient Rome, in the early church, Christians were known as “haters.”

Why?

Not because they hated but because they were defined as haters by the government and by the average person.

Why? Because their beliefs were contrary to the cultural and political values of the day.

You see, the Christians – who are known by their love — were acknowledged for helping pick up babies set aside on the side of the road as a form of abortion — and adopting them.

Christians were the ones who started the hospitals, took care of the sick, and educated people.

Christians were known for helping one another and those around them.

But they were still “haters” because they were contrary to the culture.

That’s why the early church endured such tremendous persecution.  

You can also see this in the book of Acts and in Paul’s writings.

I’m teaching a Bible study right now on the book of Philippians, and in Acts 16 you can see some of the persecution that Paul went through and that the church had to endure.

#2: Resist religious zealots who oppose biblical morality and who make good evil, and evil good.

“Religious” zealots – some who are secular, some who follow a false religion — are attacking Christians with moral superiority and great energy.

They are promoting the Equality Act.

They are using the media to try to force Christians into silence.

In the schools and in the community, they want to silence Christians.

They have replaced the true and living God with religious zealousness. They claim that they have the high moral ground, and that Christians are terrible people – deplorables.

#3. Many Christians are okay with cultural conformity.

This is not true – Christians being conformed to this world. “Conform to our culture…conform to the political establishment” is not what Christianity is about.

From the early church on, Christians have stood on a moral ground based upon biblical truth, not cultural acceptance.

The Philippians, for example, where at odds with the culture. The slave girl, the jailer, the wealthy Asian businesswoman, they and others in the church of Philipi accepted Christ, pitting themselves in contrast to the pagan society around them.

#4: Christians must have the courage to stand strong.

What’s interesting throughout the Bible is how we see Christians – people of God — being persecuted from the start to the end.

What we see over and over again in the New Testament is a declaration that Christians need to stand firm. Not to give in. Not to compromise. But to have courage to move forward.

There is a choice between compromise and just getting along.  

We see this in Acts 5:28: “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” the high priest said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

And what was the response?

“On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.” Acts 5:24.

#5. What is a Christian?

A Christian is one who has been translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

They have been born again.

They are salt and light. And we have the Great Commission to spread the gospel.

Our testimony requires not editing and watering down the gospel to please man.

Some pastors and church leaders seem to be okay with keeping their churches closed or compromised or not loving their flock. These are not being good shepherds to their people.

Those who are afraid about what the politicians, bureaucrats, media and others say — who wish to get along for political or economic favor — are not standing firm.

Some are afraid of losing influence or status. It’s something that we must resist.

#6: Finally…yes, there is sin and hell.

There are those who are silent about sin.

There are those who will want to deny hell.

They think talking about sin and hell is wrong.

They might not believe in electricity.

That doesn’t change the truth that electricity is real.

There is one prediction I feel confident making: you and every human born has sin and will die.

What happens at death? 

Hebrews 9:27: Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.

The Bible is clear. 2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

Our hope is in Jesus Christ alone.

He died on the cross for our sin.

He rose from the dead.

He provides those who believe in eternal life…and forgiveness of sins because of his death on the cross.

It’s all because of His grace and mercy.

We must stand firm.’https://mychristiandaily.com/freedom-of-worship-vs-freedom-of-religion-the-cultural-divide-you-need-to-be-aware-of/

Did You Know?

Posted by whatyareckon on October 2, 2021
Posted in: Bible, Christian, Common Sense. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
  • Christians in apostasy are as a wrecked ship.
    “…concerning faith have made shipwreck”. 1 Timothy 1:19
  • A ship’s rudder is like the tongue.
    “Behold also the ships…Even so the tongue…”. James 3:4,5
  • Salvation is like entering a haven.
    “…he bringeth them…desired haven.” Psalm 107:30
  • God’s throne is on the face of a sea.
    “And before the throne…a sea of glass…”. Revelation 4:6
  • The wicked are like the troubled sea.
    “But the wicked are like the troubled sea…”. Isaiah 57:20
  • Our sins are in the deepest sea.
    “…cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19
  • The Holy Spirit is like unto water.
    “…whence then hast thou that living water?” John 4:10,11
  • The Word washes like water.
    “…the washing of water by the word”. Ephesians 5:26
  • The gospel is as a net.
    “… is like unto a net…”. Matthew 13:47
  • A fish gave a man a ride.
    “…a great fish to swallow up Jonah…”. Jonah 1:17
  • Men are likened unto fish.
    “And makest men as the fishes of the sea…”. Habakkuk 1:14
  • A Christian is a fisherman.
    “…fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19‘https://www.fomm.org/

Saved From Covid for Voluntary Assisted Dying

Posted by whatyareckon on September 30, 2021
Posted in: Australia, Bible, Biology. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Our New South Wales state government has locked us down and pushed being vaccinated for months until one could literally SCREAM! These elected public servants are doing all this to keep us safe and healthy! Yet, in a a few weeks these same officials will be listening to a bill that seeks to take the life of the very citizens they have proclaimed they care so much about! The MP that is promoting this voluntary murder of oneself is Alex Greenwich who of course is also a climate change believer and LGBTQI promoter https://www.alexgreenwich.com/. Mr. Greenwich undoubtedly doesn’t believe a person will live eternally after death or that their Creator inhabits eternity; Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

One does have to feel sorry for these who believe they are doing “good” in sending people out into eternity without realizing they and those they sent to their early death will someday ‘stand before God’ and ‘cast into the lake of fire‘ which ‘is the second death.’

Nevertheless, for now ‘Independent MP Alex Greenwich’s assisted suicide bill will be tabled in Parliament on 12 October 2021. It includes the following:

  • Assisted suicide can be suggested by medical practitioners.
  • Approval for assisted suicide can be as short as 5 business days.
  • Communication for the first and final request for assisted suicide can be done via telehealth. This is a breach of the Federal Criminal code which states that it is an offence to use any form of electronic communication to publish, counsel or incite committing or attempting to commit suicide.
  • Faith-based hospitals and nursing homes must allow all stages of the assisted suicide process on their premises for permanent residents.
  • Faith-based hospitals must allow VAD navigators into hospitals to provide information to persons relating to voluntary assisted dying.
  • Psychologist referral is not required if a person is suffering from mental illness. The referral is only mandatory to assess a person’s capacity, pressure or duress.

Ultimately, the bill has detailed instructions to educate a generation of medical practitioners on how to take life instead preserving it. You can read the draft bill here.’ https://www.acl.org.au/cm_nsw_euthanasia?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CM%202109%20NSW%20Euthanasia%20REMINDER&utm_content=CM%202109%20NSW%20Euthanasia%20REMINDER+CID_9f6107c08b98ee169a1f17094f9ae207&utm_source=CreateSend&utm_term=Please%20email%20your%20Upper%20House%20MLCs%20and%20your%20Lower%20House%20MP%20now%20to%20urge%20them%20to%20vote%20against%20the%20bill

LGBTQ+ History in Scotland’s Schools

Posted by whatyareckon on September 30, 2021
Posted in: Bible, Creation, Gender, Same sex Marriage, Sexual. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Just what our kids need in school; LGBTQ+ history of sodomites!

‘Scotland has officially become the first country in the world to implement a required LGBTQ+ curriculum in schools after a new teacher toolkit launched this week. Educators now have access to a website offering an e-learning course on teaching topics related to the LGBTQ+ community, as well as a host of inclusive lesson plans and educational support materials, according to Scottish news outlet The Scotsman.

While LGBTQ+ subjects will be taught explicitly, the new curriculum also seeks to integrate inclusion into everyday learning. Lessons offered on the website range from exercises on discrimination to a math problem involving a young girl purchasing Father’s Day cards for her two dads.

While the new curricula were created, in part, for students to receive a more well-rounded education, the Scottish government also hopes the lessons will help reduce bullying. LGBTQ+ youth in the U.K. are twice as likely to have been bullied in the past year than their straight, cisgender classmates, according to a June study released by the youth advocacy group Just Like Us.

Scotland’s history-making curriculum is in large part due to the efforts of Time for Inclusive Education (TIE), an LGBTQ+ advocacy group that successfully lobbied the Scottish Parliament to implement nationwide inclusive learning. In 2017, the country’s government created the “LGBTI Inclusive Education Working Group,” which consisted of TIE and several other pro-LGBTQ+ groups, to investigate deepening inclusion in schools. A year later, the government accepted all 33 of its recommendations.

“Everything we’re trying to do here is all very, very Christian,” TIE Co-founder Liam Stevenson told them. in 2019. “It’s about looking after one another, it’s about respecting one another, and it’s about caring for and loving one another and producing healthy young people.”’