Tag: Christians
New Survey Proves People (Christians) Have No Clue What They’re Talking About
Posted on October 26, 2016 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
Recently, LifeWay Research and Ligonier Ministries surveyed 3000 adults concerning the state of theology in America. The results are a glaring red flag that proves how uninformed and uneducated Americans are concerning theological issues. The researchers only identified about 20% of those they surveyed as evangelicals; many other respondents identified themselves as evangelical. That in itself is a problem.
(See the chart below to view the top 12 questions and answers from the survey.)
If You Want to See “Freedom of Worship” – Look to Russia!
Posted on September 28, 2016 in Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
The difference between “freedom of religion” and “freedom of worship” is very distinct. The fact that our president says he believes in “freedom of worship” over “freedom of religion” is a warning to be taken seriously.
A group of Pentecostals were meeting in a home church group when the local police came and said they would drive them from the home in accordance with a new law. That new law allows “freedom of worship” but severely restricts “freedom of religion.”
Recently in Russia, a proposed law received overwhelming support from lawmakers and was approved by president Vladimir Putin. That law put restrictions on missionary work, teaching, preaching, or seeking to “recruit” people into a religious organization. The law also restricts people from sharing their faith in their home, online, or anywhere outside of a church building.
An Honest Commentary On Race Relations from Someone that is Curious
Posted on July 21, 2016 in Public Policy, Theology by Nathan Cherry
That account is similar to the time my daughter met her soon-to-be best friend. My daughter was 5 and the little girl was Asian-American. They hit it off quickly and my daughter asked why her eyes were “shaped different.” Her parents laughed and so did we as I told my daughter that she was Asian-American and simply had eyes shaped differently than hers. The two were best friends from that moment on.
What I love about my kids is that they are free to see the differences in people without prejudice. It would be unfair to say they don’t see color, because clearly my son noted the difference between his skin and the skin of his playground friend. But it didn’t matter. His skin color wasn’t a prerequisite for playing nor was it a barrier; it was just a factual difference he noticed. And both my son and my daughter felt free to ask honest questions and make honest observations about the differences they saw in people.
How Serving Fried Chicken to People on the Street Illustrates the Gospel
Posted on June 23, 2016 in Sexuality, Theology by Nathan Cherry
Long lines were forming as the families and friends of victims of the shooting sought to help by donating blood. Many people stood in long lines for hours waiting their turn to donate, and that’s when local Chik-fil-A owners saw an opportunity to fulfill their promise to “have a positive influence” on the community.
Todd Starnes, writing for Fox News, shares what happened:
Most Evangelical Voters Won’t Vote for Trump. Here’s Why That Is Good and Scary
Posted on June 8, 2016 in Uncategorized by Nathan Cherry
For the first time in several election cycles, and certainly in my lifetime, there is no clear choice for evangelical voters in the upcoming presidential election.
I’m going to lay all my cards on the table and say what I think has been going on, and what will happen in November if Trump and Clinton are the nominees.
To this point I think there has been a deliberate effort to prop Trump up as the presumptive nominee for Republicans. The media has done a fantastic job of propping Trump up by giving him far more coverage than any other candidate; when there were more candidates in the race. When you look at some of the outlandish things Trump has said it is hard to believe he is still in the race. That is, unless that was the plan all along.
What is this was the goal: to make Trump the nominee over all the other serious candidates. Standing next to Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio, Trump is a caricature that is hard to take seriously. And somehow, he ended up as the last man standing. And while some would have us believe that Trump can beat Clinton, I think that is a serious error in judgment.
Why would the media pay so much attention to a caricature like Trump?
What Message is Your Church Sending to Hurting People?
Posted on October 13, 2015 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
Last week was a little chaotic for me. During the whirlwind week, which involved a last minute flight to St. Louis, I had the chance to spend some time talking with a man that shares a very similar story as mine. By “similar story” I mean a man that spent many years in full-time vocational church ministry and is now doing something else.
But, the similarities in our stories did not end with our transition from vocational ministry to secular work. What became apparent is that we both found ourselves making similar observations about the church and our own theology. Let me share an example.
I was talking with a friend some weeks back and said “for all the talk the church does about grace and forgiveness, there seems to be very little offered.” My comment came after many people called for pastors and church leaders caught in the Ashley Madison hack to be removed from their positions (some even calling for them to be removed from church membership). This struck me as so odd. I recalled Peter denying he even knew Jesus and yet Jesus never once thought about stripping his Apostleship.
The overtone of responses by many Christians to this event left me wondering what our communities and religious skeptics thought of us when we decided it was a good idea to shoot our wounded. Fast forward to one of the first conversations I had with my new friend in St. Louis. I asked him why he was no longer in vocational ministry. He offered several reasons but included in his answer that he has been less than excited by the lack of grace and forgiveness in the local church.
Doritos Promotes Equality by Partnering with a Bully That Hates Christians
Posted on September 30, 2015 in Marriage by Nathan Cherry
I don’t want to focus on the chips so much as I want to focus on the partnership Doritos has entered in to with the It Gets Better Foundation. But before I do, let’s talk about the chips for a second.
Every company has the right to support whatever they want. But they also must know that by doing so they bear the responsibility of the consequences. For example, I stopped supporting the United Way and Susan G Komen for the Cure years ago. Why? Because they are partners with Planned Parenthood and, as much as possible, I want to make sure not a single dollar of my money goes to that criminal, vile organization that takes pleasure in profiting from the murder of innocent babies. By the way, that’s the reason I don’t support the Girls Scouts as well.
When I learned that PepsiCo was using the cells of aborted babies in their flavor testing process for various sodas, I immediately stopped buying any Pepsi products. In fact, that was nearly 8 years ago. So while Doritos has every right to support homosexuality, I have every right to show my disapproval of their decision by not buying their products. Just as I show my support for Chick-Fil-A’s position on marriage by eating there as often as possible.
Now, having said that, let’s talk about the real irony and near stupidity of this decision by Doritos.
Are Christians Hypocrites for Demanding Service While Refusing to Serve Others?
Posted on September 22, 2015 in Life by Nathan Cherry
Once again I find myself struggling to determine what is acceptable as I read a recent headline causing a stir. It seems the lines between “rights” and “discrimination” have become so blurred that it’s hard to decipher anything clearly.
The story making headlines is that of an Office Depot store in Illinois that refused to print the pro-life flyer a woman brought in because, they said, the language used was graphic and offensive.
The flyer in question is one being used to call for prayer for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business. The flyer shares details from Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report, includes information about their harvesting body parts, and includes a prayer for the conversion of Planned Parenthood. While I can certainly understand someone not agreeing with the content of the flyer, there is nothing that I can see which would cause anyone to describe this flyer as “graphic” or “offensive.” (Click here to see the flyer.)
Of course many media outlets, organizations, and corporations have supported Planned Parenthood over the years. They have covered up atrocities committed by the abortion giant, refused to report on shocking cases of abuse, rape, sex-trafficking, and abortion related death, and donated money. So maybe Office Depot is simply protecting a friend, an asset.
Gay Affirming Christians Must Be Reading a Different Bible – Here’s What Mine Says
Posted on July 22, 2015 in Marriage, Sexuality, Theology by Nathan Cherry
One of the biggest challenges in defending traditional marriage in our current culture doesn’t come from the Supreme Court, LGBT activists, or political agendas. Instead, this challenge comes from self-described “gay-affirming Christians.”
This group believes the Bible has been misinterpreted for hundreds of years and now wants to “set the record straight” on the biblical teaching regarding sexuality. For gay-affirming Christians the issue is understanding the cultural context of passages like Romans 1 in order to properly translate them for our current culture.
One standard talking point for gay-affirming Christians is that Romans chapter 1 is not a prohibition of homosexuality or same-sex “marriage,” but only a prohibition of homosexual fornication and abuse. In other words, Paul is simply saying that as long as homosexuals are given the opportunity to marry, as are heterosexuals, their lifestyle as homosexuals will be as pleasing before God as anyone else.
Not only is this “interpretation” of Romans 1 dangerous, it violates any sensible hermeneutic in studying Scripture. First, it goes against the plain text understanding of the Scripture. There is absolutely no way for any reasonable person to read Romans 1 and walk away with that understanding. The only logical conclusion after reading Romans 1 is that homosexuality is a sin. But even if we study the passage’s meaning from a cultural perspective, or look at the original Greek to get the meaning, we see a consistent message.