Author: Nathan Cherry
9 False Statements Christians Say – And Why They’re False
Posted on April 13, 2015 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
Have you ever made a statement like “we’re all God’s children”? It’s a common phrase heard most often quoted by Christians (and those claiming to be Christians). The problem is that this statement is patently false. So why do Christians say something like it?
Some adages and cliches have become so entrenched in Christians and church culture that they get repeated generation after generation without much thought. But these statements are not just false, some are anti-biblical, and some lead people astray. So what are the most overused and unbiblical statements Christians need to never ever, ever, say again? Here’s the list:
Church Bullies: Who They Are and How To Spot Them
Posted on April 8, 2015 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
Bullying is a central topic in the news these days. Truthfully, I would not be surprised if everyone has been bullied at least once in their lives. When I was a kid in school I was bullied for various reasons; of course at that time I didn’t know it was bullying, we just called it teasing. People are much more sensitive to bullying today than they were a few decades ago.
So it would not be much of a surprise if we all sat around sharing our stories of being bullied in school, or college, or in athletics. What would be a surprise, however, is if we all say around and shared our stories of being bullied…in church!
There’s an old (sad) adage that says “Christians are the meanest people in the world.” Another similar (and equally sad) adage says “if you want to learn to fight, join a church.”
It’s unfortunate that people supposedly filled with grace, love, joy, and humility are often some of the meanest, rudest, most hateful and hate-filled people in town. And sadly, most churches have at least one “church bully” in their midst.
I know how mean church people can be; I’m a pastor’s son and have seen and heard more than any person should. On top of that, I spent more than a decade serving churches in various capacities. I’ve been behind closed doors more often than I care to admit. But I never connected the concepts of bullying with people in church until I read a couple of articles that made this obvious.
The first article centered on characteristics of church bullies, you can read it here. See if these characteristics fit the “church bully” you have come to dread:
A Piece of the Indiana Pizzeria Story You Might Have Missed. Hint: It’s the Part the Media Doesn’t Want You to See
Posted on April 7, 2015 in Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
There has been an overwhelming amount of commentary on the Indiana Religious Freedom bill (RFRA) and the pizzeria that made news for the owner’s position on the subject. I will commend those articles to you. (Click here for a good Q&A on the bill) But there is one part of the story you might not have heard about, it’s the absolute best part. This single part of the pizzeria story is worth every spare minute you have to read this article.
Just for the sake of clarity, let’s make sure we are all on the same page about what transpired this week.
Indiana passed a RFRA bill, essentially the same bill signed into federal law by President Bill Clinton a couple decades ago. It’s virtually the same law on the books in many states, Indiana was simply joining those states.
What the law DOES do: protect the religious convictions and consciences of individuals from being harmed or threatened by government action. In other words, it allows people to live each day according to their religious convictions.
What the law does NOT do: allow people to discriminate based on sexual orientation. In other words, a person cannot refuse service to another person simply because they are gay.
If You Thought Christians and Muslims Were Treated Equal When It Comes to Wedding Cakes – WATCH THIS!
Posted on April 6, 2015 in Marriage, Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
I cannot explain the absolute hypocrisy among the liberal media and politicians concerning Christians and wedding cakes any better than this video illustrates. A Christian bakery declines to serve a gay wedding and LGBT activist and media heads explode with every derogatory name and insinuation possible. But, if a Muslim baker refuses…not a peep. The quiet is deafening. Why?
Well, my very uneducated theory is simply that Muslims are a media darling and Christians aren’t. Besides, no one is afraid Christians will come blow them up. That may sound rude but it’s also the truth. While Christians around the world seek peace and try to serve others with acts of compassion, many Muslims are beheading or blowing up people that don’t agree with them. What other possible explanation could there be for ignoring and excusing a “religion” that declares homosexuals should die (and then kills them)?
Watch the video and be enlightened about the culture we face as people of faith. If the video doesn’t appear automatically, please refresh your browser.
Famous Atheist Richard Dawkins Wants to Keep Parents from Imposing Religion On Kids – While Imposing His Religion
Posted on April 1, 2015 in Family, Theology by Nathan Cherry
Richard Dawkins recently made one of the most ironic statements I’ve heard this week. During an interview for The Irish Times Dawkins, speaking about children, said:
“Children do need to be protected so that they can have a proper education and not be indoctrinated in whatever religion their parents happen to have been brought up in.”
The irony of the statement is found in the fact that Dawkins is one of the world’s foremost atheists, which is just another “religious” ideology.
I suppose people don’t often consider atheism a religion, but rather than absence of or rejection of religion. But that is a misnomer. Religion, at its core, is a framework of convictions and beliefs that are intended to guide ones thinking and give direction to one’s life. It’s a sort of roadmap for living each day. Considering this simple but fundamental definition of religion it is easy to conclude that atheism is just another religion.
If I were to ask Dawkins if he thought children should be brought up Christian, or Jewish, or Mormon, he would probably say no. Dawkins would tell me that they should be allowed to make their own decision and that parents should not force their religion on their kids. However, if I asked Dawkins if he would encourage atheism via scientific exploration, philosophy, and thinking critically and logically with his own kids, he would almost certainly say yes.
Too Little Too Late? Lifeway Stores Pull “Heavenly Visitation” Items
Posted on March 31, 2015 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
In case you didn’t know, Lifeway Christian Stores, the main retail outlet owned by the Southern Baptist Convention, has announced it will pull all “heaven visitation items” from their shelves. This is a great announcement, but one that comes with a bitter side.
If you are wondering what a “heaven visitation item” is, it is simply any book or DVD sharing the personal account of a visitation to heaven. Think: “Heaven is for Real,” or “The boy Who Came Back from Heaven.” These accounts are supposedly the tales of people who for one reason or another (trauma, accident) claim to have visited heaven but came back. They are sharing their accounts via books and movies under the guise of “heaven visitation.”
So why is it a good thing that Lifeway is pulling such items from their shelves? Well, for starters, the accounts given by most people who claim to have died and gone to heaven contradict accounts in the Bible. For this reason such claims cannot be trusted, and should not be given credit by Christians.
Let’s take for a moment the account given by Alex Malarkey. He is the teenager that claimed is his 2010 book “The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven” to have died during a medical emergency, visited heaven, then came back. The book was a big success and Malarkey and his family made a lot of money on the back of that account.
But, just recently Malarkey released a statement saying the whole thing was made up. Kind of ironic considering his last name. Or perhaps more apropos. Malarkey’s statement reads in part:
Video: An Unborn Baby Claps While His Parents Sing
Posted on March 30, 2015 in Life by Nathan Cherry
A recent post at LifeNews.com shares a really cool ultra-sound video of an unborn child seemingly clapping his hands as his parents sing. The article states:
“On March 26th, Jen Cardinal posted a YouTube video of her 14-week-old unborn baby clapping and it has already received over 100,000 views. Cardinal told the Daily Mail that she began singing ‘If You’re Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands’ after she saw her baby clapping for the first time. She said, ‘At our 14 week ultrasound our baby was clapping, so I sang a song with our doctor as my husband filmed. The experience is one I’ll never forget. The baby clapped three times, then the doctor rewound and scrubbed it while we sang. No mystery. It was amazing.'”
Amazing indeed. Then again, unborn children have been shown to have some amazing capabilities while they are in the womb. LifeNews goes on to share a couple of newly discovered facts about unborn children:
“As LifeNews previously reported, a recent study published in Infant Behavior and Development revealed that babies in the womb are able to recognize words and even remember nursery rhymes if their mom repeats them between weeks 28 and 34. Another study published in the February 2014 Pediatrics suggested that the more words a preterm baby hears while in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the more they respond with sounds of their own. This means that preemies could be developing speech patterns in the NICU. Additionally, the study found that an increased amount of parent talk was linked to higher language and thinking scores when the babies were older.”
While Planned Parenthood tries to convince us that unborn children are just a “blob of tissue,” science continues showing us just how human and amazing they are. Who’s anti-science now?
Watch the video for yourself and see if the baby isn’t clapping. If the video doesn’t appear automatically, please refresh your browser.
How would you answer this question: “Is your church healthy?”
Odds are if someone asked you that question you would quickly, and enthusiastically say that your church is a wonderful, loving place where everyone gets along and Jesus is King. And that may be true. But the question is whether or not your church is healthy. That means taking a closer, honest, look at the inner workings of the church and seeking to assess whether things are working properly or not.
I’ve been in dozens of churches in my life. As a pastor’s kid I have more memories of church and church-related things than I do anything else. (That’s another topic for another post.) What I can honestly say is that I have rarely been part of a church I would say is healthy. More often than not churches are not healthy and in need of some help. The difficulty seems to be diagnosing the problem so that proper steps can be taken to rectify the situation.
Thankfully some help is out there. In a recent article for The Gospel Coalition, Pastor Kevin DeYoung shared “9 Marks of an Unhealthy Church” along with some thoughts on how to diagnose each problem. This doesn’t mean every possible struggle a church could face is listed – there are only 9 after all. But this is a good place to start.
A Polyamory Advocate Used a Pastor’s Words Against Him – It Didn’t End Well…for the Pastor!
Posted on March 24, 2015 in Marriage by Nathan Cherry
In case you didn’t know, there is an effort to redefine marriage. One of the most deceptive and false narratives in this effort is that the redefinition will stop with homosexuals and same-sex “marriage.” For several years now many of us have been issuing constant warnings that if marriage is redefined for homosexuals it will have to be redefined for any other group, person, or group of people that want to be “married.”
My typical warning goes something like this: If the government redefines marriage to include same-sex “marriage” it will have to continue redefining marriage to include polygamy, polyamory, pedophilia, incest, and bestiality. There will be no logical, moral, or political reason not to continue redefining marriage. If the government does not continue to redefine marriage for these groups it will be guilty of the same “discrimination” it now accuses traditional marriage supporters of.
Professing Christians that attempt to “love” their neighbor by supporting their sin and advocating for marriage redefinition will, in the end, either limit their support to homosexuals – thereby becoming guilty of the same “discrimination” they now accuse traditional marriage supporters of, or, endorse any and all forms of “marriage”; including polygamy, polyamory, et. al.
If these Christians that now support redefining marriage for homosexuals end their support of marriage redefinition there, they will have a hard time explaining their position using Scripture; or logic. The reality that many will broaden their support to include polygamy and polyamory is an easy conclusion given their existing ability to twist and stretch Scripture to support same-sex “marriage.”
Songwriter for One Direction and Maroon 5 Writes Powerful Song for Unborn Son
Posted on March 23, 2015 in Life by Nathan Cherry
If you are singer/songwriter Sam Martin you have a lot to be proud of. Martin co-wrote Maroon 5’s top 10 single “Daylight,” David Guetta’s “Dangerous,” One Direction’s “Change Your Ticket,” and Nick Jonas’ “Wilderness.” But when Martin found out his wife, Joy, was pregnant, and heard his unborn son’s heartbeat for the first time, he was inspired to write a song.
Martin said that writing this song “was a spiritual experience” and “incredibly personal and meaningful.” He kept the song a secret from his wife until it was finished, but once complete, sang it for her as they both were “sobbing, uncontrollably crying.” The very simple song is powerful as it conveys the message that martin wants his son to know “I’m going to love you anyway.” And while Martin was surprised that the record company went along with his song and allowed him to record it, he is thankful.
Listen to Martin’s beautiful song below. If the video doesn’t appear automatically, please refresh your browser.