Author: Derick Dickens
The Compromise Everyone Hates
Posted on May 31, 2014 in Public Policy, Sexuality by Derick Dickens
Sometimes compromise is a good thing. The great compromise of the United States formed two houses in Congress but created a great nation.
In fact, there is much to be said for a person who can delve deep into the weeds to find a solution that can satisfy every side without compromising core principles.
However, when compromise violates core principles, it usually never satisfies anyone.
This is the position the Boy Scouts of America find themselves when over a year ago they dropped their fight against allowing homosexuals to be members of the organization, but they refused to allow leaders to be openly gay. The compromise violated core principles of the pro-marriage supporters and the homosexual rights supporters making neither side
This is the type of compromise that must only make sense in a stuffy committee room somewhere.
An Open Letter to Glenn Beck After Speaking at Liberty University
Posted on May 24, 2014 in Theology by Derick Dickens
*This article is in response to Glenn Beck’s recent statements about the backlash of speaking at Liberty University. I have opposed inviting Glenn Beck speak at Convocation because he is not a Christian.
Dear Glenn Beck,
Discovering your program long before you moved to New York and then Texas, from the early days I enjoyed your political commentary, satire, and “Moron Trivia”. While I do not always agree with you, you have amassed an empire that does try to combat the liberal bias prevalent in other outlets. I rarely listen to you today, but I am not hostile to you.
I am a graduate of Liberty University in Lynchburg Virginia. In fact, I am not merely a one time graduate, I hold my undergraduate degree and a Master of Divinity, Master of Business Administration, and Master of Arts in Religion from Liberty. I am a conservative and not one who would bash you or Liberty because of your conservative stance.
Yet, I opposed you speaking at my Alma Mater.
STUDY: DRUG LEGALIZATION INCREASES HOSPITAL STAYS BY 40%-100%
Posted on May 8, 2014 in Public Policy by Derick Dickens
Original article posted here.
What do you get when you legalize marijuana? More emergency room visits and an increased cost to society.
You may think this is a study from Denver Colorado, but it is not. Even though we are seeing increased emergency room visits in Denver due to drugs, this study took place in a London borough where it saw a 40% to 100% increase in the hospitalization of men due to hard drugs after marijuana was legalized. The legalization of marijuana is seeing dramatic increases in social ills, causing many to see a connection with marijuana and other drug use.
Rand Paul and Moral Leadership on Abortion
Posted on May 3, 2014 in Life by Derick Dickens
When William Wilberforce began his quest to end slavery, public opinion and the political forces were against him. In his greatest legal victory, years before they outlawed slavery, he achieved it knowing it was contrary to the majority of people in England and expected the law to bankrupt the nation.
Moral stands are some of the most difficult stands to take when you are facing headwinds. It is easy to think that moral issues are less important than economic or scientific, but as Christians we know they are not only as important, they are more important.
So, when Rand Paul (or any politician) says he believes life begins at conception, but pushes off any legislation until “we can get consensus”, he shows cowardliness not leadership. (Video below)
So you say you are a Christian but don’t believe all the Bible?
Posted on May 1, 2014 in Theology by Derick Dickens
From my first days at Marshall University, I met people who said they were Christians, but that they did not believe all of the Bible. This view has never made sense to me. How do they know which parts are true? How do they know which parts are reliable? For some odd reason, they feel they can hold to a proper view of Jesus Christ without ever believing what the Bible teaches us about Jesus. For them, they approach the Bible with scissors and “snip and cut” away things they do not like.
These people are creating their own religion, not embracing the true religion of Christianity.
Eliminating parts of the Bible started by people who used very broad strokes to divide the Bible into parts. First, they said the New Testament is trustworthy, but the Old Testament is not and is “done away with.” These scholars want to talk about the “love” of the New Testament and somehow feel it is incompatible with the law giving, holy God of the Old.
First rule of thumb, when you don’t understand God and you start eliminating attributes of God based upon your misunderstanding, then you are in trouble.
Can Evangelicalism Win America?
Posted on April 30, 2014 in Theology by Derick Dickens
Original article posted here.
When John Ockenga* noted in 1947 that fundamentalism was found wanting because, “fragmentation, segregation, separation, criticism, sensoriousness, suspicion, solecism is the order of the day for fundamentalism” he was spot-on.
However, the solution that Ockenga supplied, called evangelicalism, is also found wanting because through unity they have destroyed distinctions of the church–making her ineffective.
Evangelicalism was, after all, a response against fundamentalism’s hard line stances on non-essential doctrine, moralism and harsh condemnations. In some regards, Evangelicalism was a welcomed response that was both conservative and respectful.
What came about, though, was a watering down of theology to the lowest common denominator. In some ways, they avoided fragmentation, segregation, separation, criticism, sensoriousness, suspicion and solecism, but they did not avoid other vital issues which caused them to be susceptible to error.
PET SCANS REVEAL SOME IN VEGETATIVE STATES COULD HAVE IMPROVED
Posted on April 29, 2014 in Life by Derick Dickens
The New York Times recently reported that many people who are/were in a vegetative state and was once considered unable to ever recover, could have recovered.
In other words, people who doctors, judges, families and social workers made life ending decisions, it is now discovered, could have recovered.
Dr. Steven Laureys, an author of the new study and the director of the Coma Science Group at the University of Liège in Belgium, studied people considered in a vegetative state and one of his conclusionsstated, “Bedside clinical examinations can have high rates of misdiagnosis of unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (vegetative state) or minimally conscious state.”
How significant is this misdiagnosis? Among those in a vegetative state, 31% were able to recover into a minimally conscience state or a higher level of consciousness within a year, despite giving no hope of recovery.
Science: We Need Dads
Posted on April 14, 2014 in Family, Marriage by Derick Dickens
New research has concluded what most of us already knew: children need fathers.
There is a myriad of evidence that shows a father in the home reduces violent crime, produces a better social environment, and provides essential growth opportunities. However, researchers have questioned the need for fathers thinking they only provide more parenting, not distinct and unique parenting.
New research conducted by Professor David Eggebeen of Penn State University, uncovers the unique impact fathers have on their children that is pointing researchers to the conclusion that fathers do not merely give more parenting, but distinct and unique parenting needed by children of both sexes.
Fathers do not merely give more parenting, but distinct and unique parenting needed by children of both sexes.
What is the Role of Youth Ministry in the Church?
Posted on April 13, 2014 in Family by Derick Dickens
You may not have realized it, but there is a vibrant debate concerning youth ministry. On the one end, some people believe there is a greater need for youth ministry to stop the growing secularization of our kids. On the other side of the debate, there are families abandoning the youth ministry seeing it as intrusive and problematic.
Acknowledging that there can be some benefit to having a ministry to a particular group within the church (Acts 6:1, Titus 2:3-4), the challenge to us is to consider the role of youth ministry in our churches.
From my perspective, there is a need for youth ministry to:
A View of Women the Feminist Movement Forgot
Posted on April 12, 2014 in Family, Marriage by Derick Dickens
Filing for divorce twice as often as men, women most often say it is due to ‘mental cruelty’ (Source: Why women leave men). It seems that in most all statistics, women are worse off as a whole. They are seeing the highest levels of poverty ( Source: National Women’s Law Center), out of wedlock births (Source: National Review), and one in three women will have an abortion in their lifetime (Source: Guttmacher Institute).
It demands us to ask some serious questions. Has the last century of women’s rights not touched the home? Has women’s equality not turned the tide of divorce? Has it not lifted women out of poverty instead of sinking them further into poverty? Women’s equality has failed precisely because it is misplaced from the Biblical understanding of women. It has failed precisely because it misunderstands the honor God has given to women.
In short, if you think women are equal to men, then you have too low of a view of women. Women are not merely equal, they are to be honored and esteemed unlike that of a man.