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?”
Well, the truth is that kids don’t “end up bad.” They are not pre-programmed to be out of control, rude, misbehaving delinquents. The truth is, if they are that child that they were allowed to become that child…by you! Yes, we as parents are the culprits behind our children’s behavior issues.
Discipline is a hot button topic for many parents these days. I’ve had a lot of conversations about parenting and discipline recently, so when I came across a couple of articles I couldn’t help but think God was nudging me to write about the topic (believe me, it’s just as much for my benefit as anyone else).
A lot of really helpful resources exist on the topic of parenting with an emphasis on discipline. I think of an excellent book by Tedd Tripp called “Shepherding a Child’s Heart.” This very practical book takes on some tough issues every parent faces and provides easy to understand, biblically based answers. I can’t recommend it strongly enough. Continue reading…
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
What are the real-world implications of marriage redefinition?
Let’s put the emotional narrative and political rhetoric aside and talk about the real-world implications of normalizing marriage other than that of one man and one woman within our society.
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.
For example, a Kansas judge recently ruled that a sperm donor is liable for child support to the lesbian woman he helped to conceive a child. Forget your moral or religious position on sperm donors for a moment; as that discussion brings with it a whole new set of troubles. Allow yourself a moment to understand that a sperm donor intending to simple provide one half of the genetic information needed to bring a child into this world, with a woman he didn’t know that was living in a lesbian relationship, has just been told he is to now act like a father. Continue reading…
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.
After reading commentary by Francis Chan in his book “Crazy Love” on this passage and consulting scholarly works on the subject I believe the correct understanding of this passage is that the lukewarm are in fact those who have never accepted Christ as their Savior; they are lost people on their way to hell.
Chan makes the following statement regarding this topic:
“As I see it, a lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron; there’s no such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are ‘lukewarm’ are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven…This passage (Rev. 3:15-18) is where our modern understanding of lukewarm comes from. Jesus is saying to the church that because they are lukewarm, He is going to spit them out of his mouth…When you read this passage, do you naturally conclude that to be ‘spit’ out of Jesus’ mouth means you’re a part of His kingdom? When you read the words ‘wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked,’ do you think that He’s describing saints?[1] Continue reading…
Girl Scouts Threaten Pro-Lifers for Pointing Out Abortion Ties
Posted on February 17, 2014 in Life by Nathan Cherry
After pro-life website LifeNews.com pointed out the ties between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood, they received a letter demanding they stop all such reporting. The letter says that the Girl Scouts have no partnership with Planned Parenthood and don’t plan on starting one anytime soon. But evidence to the contrary is abundant, making the threatening letter seem…worthless.
Lifenews.com shared the following evidence for a partnership between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood:
“Fresh on the heels of Girl Scouts USA (GSUSA) sharing a recommendation for pro-abortion Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis as a 2013 Woman of the Year via their official Twitter account, the organization suggested pro-abortion HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as a woman “with courage, confidence, and character.”
“Meanwhile, the new national spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts, Kelly Parisi, is the former spokeswoman for a pro-abortion organization — one founded by Gloria Steinem. Continue reading…
Government Gone Wild: Will West Virginia Be the Next State to Fall to Judicial Activism?
Posted on February 17, 2014 in Marriage, Public Policy by Nathan Cherry
I recently wrote about the trend of attorney’s general refusing to defend the laws of the states that elected them to defend their laws. I commented that this trend was accelerated by President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder refusing to defend DOMA. Once the president starts deciding which laws he will and will not defend it is just a matter of time before everyone else decides they can do it too.
Over the last year we’ve seen numerous attorney’s general decide not to defend state laws, while activist judges decide to strike down other laws. The latest in this trend comes from Kentucky where a judge said the state must recognize foreign gay marriages from other states. His declaration is in violation of Kentucky law, but that didn’t stop the judge from deciding to strike down the law and rewrite it according to his opinion. He reportedly ruled:
“…while the state did not have to conduct same-sex ‘marriages’ itself, it must grant full marital benefits to couples who live in the state but had nuptials conducted elsewhere.”
Obviously this judge didn’t pay attention to what happened in Iowa as a result of such egregious activism against the wishes of the people. Of the situation in Kentucky, Albert Mohler wrote:
“Once again, we face a federal court striking down a constitutional amendment that had been overwhelmingly adopted by the citizens of a state…Thus, those who argued that in Windsor the Supreme Court had effectively paved the way for legal same-sex marriage coast to coast are vindicated in their warnings. Justice Scalia offered that warning from his seat on the Court. Many others offered that warning from other sectors. Sadly, the warnings were validated even sooner than most had expected.”
Validated indeed. The door is now open in Kentucky not just to same-sex “marriage,” but also to polygamy and polyamory. Continue reading…
NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue says pro-lifers are “outside the mainstream” on the issue of abortion and frequently “lie and cheat” in order to get pro-life legislation passed. Do you agree?
Watch the video below of Hogue’s comments to see if she is speaking for you and representing your views accurately. As a pro-life advocate I can say I disagree completely with her and believe it is abortion advocates that lie to women in order to support their agenda of killing the unborn (think, “it’s just a blob of tissue.”).
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