The Reformed Advisor

Author: Nathan Cherry

I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband and a father. I seek to equip people on how their faith and daily life collides and intersects in order to impart a faith that leads to a biblical world view.

West Virginia May Have Marriage Redefined Thanks to Court Ruling (UPDATE)

Posted on August 8, 2014 in Marriage by

Federal judges have been redefining marriage in conservative states at an alarming rate. I’ve been watching the dominos fall and keeping up as court after court strikes down voter approved marriage protection amendments. (Click here for my first post on the subject, or click here for my previous update.)

The first post centered around 13 states – conservative states – where marriage was being threatened by judicial activism. Since that first post, much has changed. Of those original 13 states where marriage was being threatened, all of them have had their marriage protection amendments struck down. Two others, Georgia and Wisconsin have been added to the list.

This means that 15 conservative states where marriage laws protected natural, one man one woman marriage by a vote of the people have now had those laws wiped out by a single judge, or a panel of judges. That fact should trouble every freedom loving American that believes our Constitution stands as a barrier to such radical activism.

What does this mean for West Virginia?

Remember the Old Nazi Re-Education Camps? It’s Happening Again – in America!

Posted on August 7, 2014 in Marriage, Religious Freedom, Sexuality by

Laugh all you want. Call me an alarmist or a conspiracy theorist, but what is happening right now in America is nothing short of the redefinition of the Constitution. The new definition includes re-education that would make any socialist or communist proud.

I can only describe the case of Jack Phillips, a baker in Colorado, as jaw-dropping and shocking. Every time I read another account of what is happening to him I shake my head and wonder what America is going to look like in 10 years.

In case you aren’t familiar with Jack’s story, here’s a quick brief. Jack Phillips owns a bakery in Colorado. He has been doing business for 20 years and is highly respected for his artwork in deliciousness. A homosexual couple came in to his shop in 2012 and wanted a cake to celebrate their same-sex union. Jack told them he would be glad to do just about anything else, but that he could not lend his talent and services to celebrate their ceremony. They sued.

A local judge and then the Colorado Civil Rights Commission found Jack guilty of sexual orientation discrimination. But as Jack has said, he isn’t discriminating against anyone:

How to Utilize Social Media Wisely as a Christian Leader

Posted on August 6, 2014 in Theology by

Just this Sunday my pastor urged caution to people using social media. He reminded us all that words said on social media, like words said in person, are permanent. On the heels of that cautionary reminder I read an article by Thom Rainer entitled “Seven Warnings for Church Leaders Who Use Social Media.”

Rainer is an expert in church growth and health with Lifeway, an arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. Rainer has spent several decades learning about what helps a church grow, and what causes churches to die. He is the first to say that utilizing social media is a must for any pastor and church in our culture. Rainer readily admits that the lack of social media use, even the fear of it, contributes to the closing of churches each and every day.

So Rainer is not against social media by any stretch of the imagination. But he is wise in his counsel on how to properly use social media. Rainer writes:

More Judges. More Marriage Amendments Struck Down. More Confusion Over the 14th Amendment.

Posted on August 5, 2014 in Marriage by

So here we are, reading the news that yet another judge has struck down another voter-approved marriage protection amendment. This time both Virginia and Florida watched as judges simply tossed the voters’ voice aside and decided for the entire state what the definition of marriage will be. And the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, another group of judges, has decided that Oklahoma’s marriage protection amendment is unconstitutional struck it down.

That’s three more traditionally conservative states where LGBT activists and politicians alike had little chance of getting a voter-approved measure legalizing gay “marriage” past the people. So, they circumvented the people, trampled both the Constitution and the voter-approved marriage protection amendments, and forced their will on the entire state.

Planned Parenthood Tells Young Girl to Watch “Educational Porno”

Posted on August 4, 2014 in Life, Sexuality by

What continues to amaze me about these videos from Live Action taken undercover at Planned Parenthood (PP) abortion clinics across the country, is how unconcerned the PP staffer seems to be about the age of the “patient.” According to PP 15 is not too young to not just be in a sexual relationship, but to be engaging in BDSM behavior. Am I the only one shocked by that?

It is equally disturbing that PP does not care that this young, minor child has no parent present. I mean, I knew that PP would happily do an abortion for a 15-year-old without telling her parents, and that they oppose all parental notification laws, and yet it’s still surprising to me to witness. I suppose I am surprised because if this was my child and I learned PP was giving such advice without my knowledge it would not be such a calm, serene scene. But hey, that’s me.

What kind of advice is PP giving to this underage patient?

This particular PP staffer thought it would be a good idea to tell a 15-year-old that she should find a good “educational porno” to watch. I can’t help but wonder if she would feel the same way about an adult telling her underage daughter the same thing. Suppose I decided to tell this PP staffer’s daughter that there is some great porn out there she should be watching. How would the mother react? If she has any moral scruples at all she would be furious and seek legal intervention. But she feels completely at ease telling this young girl – someone’s daughter – to go watch porn.

Why It Might Be a Good Thing for People to Leave Our Church

Posted on August 1, 2014 in Theology by

The distraction of keeping everyone happy comes from a fear that if people aren’t happy they will leave our church and go elsewhere. Because many churches are struggling to grow and having financial issues the task of keeping everyone happy (and tithing) takes precedence. Though they might not say it out loud, many pastors are afraid that someone might leave their church, not realizing that having people leave their church might be the best thing for the church.

Wait a minute. Did I just say it might be good for someone to leave the church? As a pastor that seems like an odd thing to say. Even more odd would be the statement that not only is it a good thing for people to leave, it might be what is best for that person and the church as a whole.

Atheist Groups Rejoice Over IRS Decision to Monitor Churches. But Should They?

Posted on July 31, 2014 in Public Policy, Religious Freedom by

Good news! The IRS has agreed to start monitoring churches more closely concerning political speech. Doesn’t that make you feel safe?

Apparently a lawsuit brought against the IRS by the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) has resulted in an agreement between the atheist group and the IRS to spend more time monitoring churches. After all, we can’t have churches giving direction to their congregations about critical issues, and where candidates stand on those issues. (Alliance Defending Freedom has sent a FOIA request to the IRS asking for these new policies.)

The lawsuit was first prompted in 2009 as a result of the nationwide ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday” campaign started by Alliance Defending Freedom. This campaign was started as an effort to challenge the unconstitutional “Johnson Amendment” that was inserted into the IRS code back in 1954. The Amendment makes it illegal for tax-exempt organizations to engage in electioneering, broadly defined as endorsing one political candidate or another.

Tony Dungy Gets Blasted for Being Honest About Michael Sam

Posted on July 30, 2014 in Sexuality by

Throughout the draft process the talk about Michael Sam centered around the fact that he is gay, and that he is the first openly gay player seeking to be drafted. There was more talk about his gay-ness than there was about his actual football skill. In fact, I was dumbfounded at the fact that a few commentators were brave enough to say that Sam was not really skilled enough to make the NFL but would most likely be drafted simply because he was gay!

And yet people continue to be “disturbed” by Dungy’s comments or the fact that many people agree with him. One article reported:

Jill Stanek: 15 Reasons Why the Pro-Life Movement is Winning!

Posted on July 29, 2014 in Life by

If you weren’t sure if the movement to defend life from conception to natural death was winning or not, the following list should help. Of course the media is in bed with big abortion business so their coverage is skewed to make people think the pro-abortion view is most popular. Wrong.

As Stanek shares, from a number of articles which can be seen here, there is overwhelming evidence to support the fact that the pro-life view is not just winning in courts, but winning in the court of public opinion. More people in America now identify as pro-life and believe abortion should be restricted to extreme cases. The push to protect children with disabilities, children of rape and incest, and even to protect children based on their gender is growing, quickly.
Despite the fact that we have the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history in the White House, more pro-life laws have been passed in the past several years than in the past three decades combined. Despite the media partnership with big abortion business people remain unconvinced that abortion is not murder. As many pro-abortion advocates rightly feared, science is proving the humanity of the unborn in undeniable ways; convincing people more than ever that human life does indeed begin at conception.

Based on the articles Jill Stanek lists in her post at LifeNews.com, here are the 15 reasons abortion advocates say they are losing to the pro-life movement:

How Many People in America are Gay? Does it Matter?

Posted on July 28, 2014 in Marriage, Sexuality by

Here’s a quiz for you: What percentage of the American population self-identifies as homosexual?

Think about it. With the massive effort to create homosexual rights, the media reporting every time a person announces to the world that he or she is gay, and all the other hype shoved at each day. What massive, enormous percentage of the American population is languishing under our archaic laws preventing them from marrying?

It must be massive, right? I has to be. People are being fired from their jobs for refusing to support the homosexual lifestyle. Businesses are being shut down because the owners are Christians that refuse to violate their religious convictions. Other Christians are being charged and convicted with hate-crimes for adhering to their convictions that marriage is between one woman and one man.

Surely the percentage of the American population that is homosexual is not just very large, but growing.

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