Month: February 2014
Must Watch: John Piper and Francis Chan Talk About Abortion in Church
Posted on February 22, 2014 in Life by Nathan Cherry
If you’ve ever wondered whether a pastor should discuss abortion church, or if the pastor should use graphic images of aborted babies as illustrations, you must watch this video.
John Piper and Francis Chan discuss how to discuss abortion while being sensitive to post-abortive women in your church. They further discuss the use of graphic images depicting abortion within the church. I think a lot of people will be surprised by this discussion an the positions taken by the two prominent pastors.
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Will the Religious Super-Majority Be Forced to Comply?
Posted on February 21, 2014 in Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
A number of times now President Obama has stated that America is “no longer a Christian nation.” I don’t believe that every person in America is a repentant follower of Jesus, and I am certain the president does not believe that either. What I believe the president was trying to accomplish with his remarks is to distance modern America from our religious founding and heritage. In President Obama’s ongoing attempts to replace “freedom of religion” with “freedom to worship” he would like nothing more than to imbed the idea that America is not founded and based on biblical principles.
In a solid refutation of the president’s claim, a recent Gallup poll released at the end of December in 2013 shows that a super-majority of Americans, 75%, identify with the Christian faith. Dr. Frank Newport, Galup’s Editor-in-Chief says:
EPIC: Atheist Set to Debate William Lane Craig on Friday
Posted on February 20, 2014 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
If you were somehow disappointed by the Ken Ham v. Bill Nye debate, you absolutely must watch an upcoming debate between prominent atheist Sean Carroll and brilliant philosopher and theologian William Lane Craig. A recent article shares some details of the debate scheduled for this Friday at 7 PM:
“The debate, titled ‘God and Cosmology: The Existence of God in Light of Modern Cosmology,’ will be a two-day symposium, featuring numerous speakers. While the first day of the event will be led by Carroll and Craig, a separate debate and discussion on the second day of the conference will feature four additional presenters who will also address complex philosophical and theological issues, according to a press release. Philosophers Tim Maudlin and Alex Rosenberg will argue in favor of Carroll’s side of the debate and Craig’s case will be touted by philosopher Robin Collins and physicist James Sinclair.”
Anyone who knows anything about William Lane Craig knows that he is revered as one of, if not the most brilliant debater regarding apologetics alive today. (With a very respectful hat tip to Ravi Zacharias.) It has been reported more than once that Craig has never lost a debate and some even refuse to debate him – whether out of fear, respect, or both, is anyone’s guess.
This promises to be an epic debate in which Sean Carroll is already saying he has no plans to win the debate, he just wants to share some thoughts. Uh…does he not understand the premise of a debate? Perhaps he is hedging in light of William Lane Craig’s reputation. Either way, you don’t want to miss this debate.
The debate will take place on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. It will be streamed live online here.
That Dirty Little D Word: Discipline
Posted on February 20, 2014 in Family by Nathan Cherry
Have you ever been out in public and saw some kids behaving in a way that made you want to grab their ears, twist, and “teach them a lesson?” To emphasize her point, my mom used to grab my ear, twist, and proceed to show me exactly what it was I was supposed to be doing, or not doing. To say I was “all ears” would be an understatement.
Or maybe you’ve had an experience like this one where you end up hiding from your own kids because you’ve concluded that they are aliens sent to destroy you and take over the planet. And more often than not you sit back at the end of a long day, sigh (or perhaps cry) and wonder aloud “how did it get this bad?”
MUST WATCH: Pro-Life Ad Created by Lingerie Company!
Posted on February 19, 2014 in Life by Nathan Cherry
The video below is an add created by the Japanese lingerie company Wacoal. it is not what you would expect but has a very powerful pro-life message that shows just how valuable life is. It also shows how selfless parenthood should be. Take a few moments to watch the video and share it with others.
The video is part of an ad-campaign called “Beauty Inside.” It is meant to showcase true beauty, not the airbrushed type that requires photoshop. What’s more, the company says the video is base don a true story. I have no doubt that many other stories just like this one exist, showcasing just how beautiful life is.
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URGENT: Contact W.Va. Delegates to Ask Them To Support Pro-Life Bill
Posted on February 19, 2014 in Life by Nathan Cherry
After the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (HB 4588) failed during a procedural vote last week, state lawmakers were taken to task for their failure to protect innocent children from the torture of abortion. Perhaps they are feeling the pressure as it seems the bill has been revived and has passed a key hurdle in being discharged from committee.
According to LifeNews.com:
“…on February 12, 2014, the Democrats convened a caucus where, according to The Charleston Gazette (see Statehouse Beat: Caucus Becomes Heated), ‘Tensions are running high in the House of Delegates, after a three-hour, knock-down, drag-out Democratic caucus Wednesday that was marked, we’re told, by yelling and screaming, and even delegates concerned that fisticuffs might break out.’ Why such a heated caucus? The Gazette continued, ‘A procedural vote on this year’s anti-abortion bill being championed by West Virginians for Life…'”
The bill was set to be in the judiciary committee yesterday and news of what will happen next is pending. The best thing you can do right now to help pass this critical, life-saving bill is to contact your elected lawmakers and urge them to support the bill.
For contact information for your delegate, go to: http://wvforlife.org/legislation/wv-delegates/ or go to www.legis.state.wv.us.
The Troubles Caused by Marriage Redefinition
Posted on February 19, 2014 in Marriage by Nathan Cherry
Marriage was intended to be the union of one man and one woman for the purpose of bearing and raising kids in order to propagate humanity and society. From a biblical position, marriage was also intended to be a visible image of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His bride, the church. On an individual level marriage was intended to make us holy, others-centered people. Anything outside this understanding of marriage is inadequate and presents a false view of God’s intended purpose for marriage.
In the effort to redefine marriage, proponents often say that marriage is just a legal contract intended to convey governmental benefits. Ok, I’ll accept that as a secondary, far less significant, man-made construct for modern marriage. That does not in any way alter the true purpose and definition of marriage. Nor should it somehow assuage the conscience and allow support for marriage redefinition.
When we as a society stray from the established purpose and definition of marriage we bring upon ourselves a whole new set of moral, societal, and legal troubles.
W.Va. House Approves 20 Week Abortion Bill
Posted on February 18, 2014 in Life by Nathan Cherry
WOWKTV.com is reporting: “A West Virginia House of Delegates committee has voted to pass a bill to limit abortions after 20 weeks. The proposal passed Monday in the Committee on Health would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks unless a physician deems a woman’s medical complications pose a risk to her life or would cause irreversible physical impairment. This does not include a woman’s psychological or mental condition.”
This is great news in light of the failure of our lawmakers last week to approve another bill to limit abortions after 20 weeks. I’m not sure why our lawmakers, many of them claiming to be pro-life, can’t accurately represent the people of West Virginia by enacting common sense health and safety regulations on the unregulated abortion industry in our state. Are they afraid of doing what’s right and making the people that elected them happy?
One curious note to this article came when it said: “The bill would also compel physicians who perform abortions after 20 weeks to do so in such a way that provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive. Under the bill, all abortions would be reported to the Division of Health and anyone who performs an abortion in violation of the bill would face felony charges.”
How exactly do you perform an abortion “in such a way that provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive”? Is there a method of abortion that encourages life? This is a strange report that hopefully will be answered by lawmakers as this bill progresses.
Let’s call and email our lawmakers and let them know that we support this bill and want to see it signed into law in order to protect both women and children in West Virginia. You can find all your elected officials contact information at the West Virginia Legislature website.
Who Are the Lukewarm That Jesus Spits Out of His Mouth?
Posted on February 18, 2014 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
Quite often we hear lessons or illustrations about the “lukewarm” in the church. Almost unanimously these lessons center around teaching that the lukewarm are people that are saved but simply do not live out their faith, or are not active in growing in their faith. They are, according to most teaching, people that confess Christ but do not actively serve, worship, share, or serve Him.
Most often these teachings are based on Revelation chapter 3, the famous passage in which Christ describes people that are “neither hot nor cold” and for that reason he is sickened by the fact that these people are lukewarm and will “spit them out” of His mouth. This is strong language. And people have generally read this passage and believed that these are Christians not doing anything for Christ (which is what makes them lukewarm) and because of that Christ is sickened. But I believe this is an incorrect understanding of this passage; an incorrect view that could affect eternity.