Marriage Redefinition Seeks to Remove God from Our Understanding of Gender, Sexuality, and Marriage.
Posted on May 6, 2014 in Marriage, Sexuality by Nathan Cherry
Is it possible that there is a deliberate anti-Bible element to the effort to redefine marriage and sexuality? More than just some cultural shift or some desire for equality, what if this effort is really about destroying a vital aspect of biblical doctrine.
Central to the biblical teaching on sexuality and gender is the belief that men and women are “equal but different.” Within this teaching is the very simple concept that men and women are inherently different in their physical, emotional, and sexual construct, but are equal in their worth and value. That’s not a hard concept to understand when looking at a man and a woman.
Liberal ideology however is rapidly opposed to this concept and is seeking to replace it with the belief that there is no difference between men and women. Now, to be fair, the idea that there is no difference between men and women is logically absurd. One look at a man and woman will quickly reveal the obvious physical differences, the emotional differences are well documented, and the sexual differences go hand in hand with the physical differences. But, that doesn’t stop the effort to erase those inherent differences.
What, if any biblical teachings would be harmed in the effort to erase the differences between men and women? Continue reading…
The Trouble With Throuples is That Throuples Are Troublesome Things
Posted on May 5, 2014 in Marriage, Sexuality by Nathan Cherry
If you think tribbles are a lot of trouble, wait until you hear about “throuples.”
Let me make a statement I have been making for several years:
If the government redefines marriage for homosexuals ti was necessarily have to continue redefining marriage for any other group or be guilty of the same “discrimination” it now accuses traditional marriage supporters of.
Try as they may to deny it, every advocate of marriage redefinition knows intuitively that if the arguments currently winning the day to legalize same-sex “marriage” are successful, they will also be successful for polygamists, polyamorists, and even pedophiles and bestiality advocates.
Ask yourself when is the last time you heard a same-sex “marriage” advocate standing up for the rights of polygamists and polyamorists? If their goal is based on “love” and “equality” then surely they would desire the same love and equality for every other minority group hiding in the shadows, right?
But you won’t see these groups standing together or hosting town hall meetings on bus tours across the states. Why? Simply because if every day America knew that redefining marriage for one group meant doing so for every other group the wheels of the political machine churning in favor of homosexuals would come to a screeching halt. Continue reading…
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)
The LGBT Master Plan Began 30 Years Ago. And You Had No Idea
Posted on May 2, 2014 in Marriage, Sexuality by Nathan Cherry
What if I told you a plan was put in place nearly 30 years ago to normalize homosexuality in America? And that the blueprint for the plan was written in plain sight for anyone to see and yet most people have never heard it, read it, or know it exists?
The average person, myself included, would be tempted to believe that what we are seeing from LGBT activists today is a recently developed plan to normalize homosexuality. We would also be tempted to believe that the demonization of anyone that opposes the homosexual lifestyle, most notably Christians, is just an unfortunate casualty of this culture war.
We would be absolutely wrong.
In 1987 an article was written for Guide Magazine in which the authors, Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen, published their PR blueprint for normalizing homosexuality. The article ‘The Overhauling of Straight America,’ was later expanded into a book and published by one of America’s largest publishing houses where it became a bestseller.
The article opens with this statement: Continue reading…
The Gospel Coalition: 9 Things You Should Know About the National Day of Prayer
Posted on May 1, 2014 in Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
Joe Carter, writing at The Gospel Coalition writes: Today is the National Day of Prayer, an annual day of observance celebrated by Americans of various faiths. Here are nine things you should know about the day when people are asked “to turn to God in prayer and meditation.”
1. The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.
2. Prior to the nation’s founding, the Second Continental Congress issued a proclamation recommending “a day of publick [sic] humiliation, fasting, and prayer” be observed by the “English Colonies” on Thursday, July 20, 1775, “and to bless our rightful sovereign, King George the Third…”
3. In his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington acknowledged a second day of “fasting, humiliation and prayer” proclaimed by the Continental Congress to be held on Thursday, May 6, 1779. To enable his soldiers to observe the day, Washington ordered a one-day cessation of recreation and “unnecessary labor”.[12] In March 1780, Congress announced a day of “fasting, humiliation and prayer” to be held on Wednesday, April 26, 1780.
4. There have been 142 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting and thanksgiving by the President of the United States (1789-2013). Continue reading…
So you say you are a Christian but don’t believe all the Bible?
Posted on May 1, 2014 in Theology by Derick Dickens
Original article posted here.
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.
The problem they faced is that Jesus and Paul both taught the trustworthiness of the Old Testament, both relied heavily on the Old, and both revered it. Jesus trusted the Old Testament and condemned people for not believing Moses and the Prophets (Luke 16:31). Constantly, Jesus pointed people to the teachings of the Old Testament; it was an integral part of his ministry. Jesus essentially taught that if you eliminate the Old, you have ripped the heart out of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Continue reading…
High Profile Christians Continue Embracing Sin Because – Culture?
Posted on May 1, 2014 in Marriage by Nathan Cherry
When the average, every day Christian decides to support something the Bible clearly calls sin, no one cares. That’s because no one knows except the small circle that person influences. That’s not to say it isn’t a problem, but only that it’s not nearly as egregious an abuse of influence. But when a Christian singer or major book publisher decides to support those same unbiblical positions, things gets weightier.
In this case a major book publisher known for such authors as Kay Arthur and David Jeremiah has decided to publish a book supporting same-sex “marriage.” Add to that the recent revelation that Jars of Clay front man Dan Haseltine has decided to also support homosexual “marriage” and one has to wonder if these Christians understand the weight of their decisions.
First, a recent article reports:
“WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group is planning to release, through its liberal sister imprint Convergent Books, a manuscript paradoxically titled God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships…The book’s author, Matthew Vines, is a homosexual activist and Bible revisionist known for manipulating Christian terminology to advance the counter-Christian homosexualist agenda. Despite his frequent use of a Christian-like lexicon, Vines surprisingly admits to running an apostate enterprise that he calls The Reformation Project. An unabashed denier of Biblical teaching on sexual morality, Vines has publicly acknowledged that his goal is to ‘reform church teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity.’”
Really? Do we have to go through this again?
Yes, what the world needs now is another so-called “Christian” trying desperately to convince the evangelical world that the current and historical majority understanding of biblical sexuality is all wrong and his “enlightened” view is correct. Not only has every conservative evangelical scholar since recorded time – such as Paul, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Wayne Grudem and Albert Mohler – been completely wrong in their life time of study regarding biblical sexuality. But, so has the majority of Christians throughout history that has affirmed the understanding that homosexual behavior is sin.
Eric Teetsal, writing at Patheos.com said the new book is a tired rehashing of old arguments that have been soundly refuted. Teetsal also said the book illustrates both a general lie and a more personal one. Teetsal wrote: Continue reading…
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.
This became evident when Open Theism–a belief that God is not all-knowing–began ravaging the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). In attempting to understand how to handle this obvious breach of essential doctrine, ETS was at a loss. Their minimalist doctrine was ineffective and in the final analysis, Evangelicals had no foundation to oppose these attacks on the doctrine of God. Continue reading…
Remember That Slippery Marriage Slope? As States Fall the Slope Gets Slippery-er!
Posted on April 30, 2014 in Marriage by Nathan Cherry
Not long ago I told you about the 13 states that are facing judicial efforts to redefine marriage. These are not ballot measures, these are not voter initiatives, these are judges deciding for an entire state to oppose the majority of the people of that state and force marriage redefinition on the state in some way.
Included in this list is:
Pennsylvania
Virginia
Oklahoma
Utah
Kentucky
Colorado
Oregon
Texas
Michigan
Tennessee
Indiana
Florida
Ohio
What is striking about each of these cases is the similarities, or relative similarities in each state. If you look closely at the list you will notice these are all predominantly conservative states. Each of these states embraces more traditional values and beliefs regarding a wide range of issues, including marriage. Each of these states tends to elect conservative leaders for both federal and state office. While certain exceptions exist these states are similar in their values, beliefs, politics, and governance. Continue reading…
PET SCANS REVEAL SOME IN VEGETATIVE STATES COULD HAVE IMPROVED
Posted on April 29, 2014 in Life by Derick Dickens
Original article here.
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. Continue reading…