Tag: Bible
Are Christians Abandoning the Biblical Position on Homosexuality?
Posted on June 26, 2014 in Sexuality, Theology by Nathan Cherry
A recent Gallup Poll found that 37% of people believe homosexuality is a product of environment, while 42% say people are “born gay.” Despite the absolute lack of evidence for a “gay gene” or any biological marker for homosexuality, the notion still persists that people are somehow born with homosexual tendencies. This also despite the growing mountain of evidence to showing environmental factors contribute to a person’s self-image and identity, which plays a major factor in sexual orientation.
While the number of people believing people are born gay is down from 2013 when it reached an all-time high, the trend of believing there is a genetic marker that forces people to be gay is still hanging around.
Some are citing this as proof that Christians will eventually “come around” and “get with the program” on the issue of homosexuality and accept it. Some are even saying that opposition to homosexuality on the part of Christians is “collapsing” and will eventually crumble.
Really?
Why Do Christians Need to Oppose Transgenderism?
Posted on June 25, 2014 in Sexuality, Theology by Nathan Cherry
Since the SBC annual meeting the issue of transgenderism has been on my mind a lot. Not because I hadn’t thought about it before, but because of the fact that a major denomination needed to adopt a unified statement clarifying biblical teaching on the issue. Something seems terribly wrong with this fact.
Why is it necessary for the SBC to adopt a formal resolution codifying biblical teaching on the issue of transgenderism? Dr. Russell Moore, head of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission answers the question:
“The cultural mindset is that gender is something that is constructed by the individual. So it’s disconnected from how the person is created. And that’s one of the reasons why I think this resolution … was so wise, because it spoke to what the Bible teaches about what gender means in the first place, about how God’s design is good.”
Dr. Moore is right. The fact that society has turned gender into something that can be bent and altered at will is part of the problem. The established gender binary’s that once created the foundation of our society have been attacked and weakened, prompting a surge of defense for the male-female complimentarian view that was once so…normal.
Why I Voted for the SBC Resolution on Transgender Identity
Posted on June 24, 2014 in Sexuality, Theology by Nathan Cherry
The Southern Baptist Convention took a much needed stand in the effort to reshape sexuality into a fluid, preferential aspect of one’s life. At the annual meeting this year in Baltimore, MD, the SBC voted on a resolution entitled “On Transgender Identity.” The full text of the resolution can be read here.
Much discussion has already taken place around this resolution. Even before the convention began there was a rumbling as a result of what some knew would be “controversial” resolutions. One friend, when he heard I would be attending the SBC annual meeting, said he would be praying for me as we would be “voting on some resolutions that will be perceived as controversial.”
When day two of the annual meeting arrived and I looked at the list of resolutions I didn’t see anything that could be remotely considered controversial for a Southern Baptist. Then I got to resolution number nine.
Resolution number nine is speaks to the issue of transgenderism. As efforts to redefine marriage in our culture have progressed and been successful, the logical progression that many of us predicted would occur is now taking place. Once homosexuals found support for their alternative lifestyle and sexual orientation it was just a matter of time before others, such as polygamists and transgender persons began seeking rights as well.
Sadly, even some Christians have been deceived into believing there is nothing wrong with being a transgender person. The reality however is that such abuse of one’s biological sex stands in direct opposition to God’s created design. Hence the need for the SBC to codify in a resolution the Southern Baptist position.
Here’s what the resolution says, in part:
Rebuking Planned Parenthood’s Attempt to Use the Bible to Justify Abortion
Posted on June 18, 2014 in Life by Nathan Cherry
Remember that awful “pastoral letter” that Planned Parenthood sent to their supporters? It was supposed to let them know that clergy support abortion and the Bible and God are play with abortion. Just the thought of such a letter makes me angry. To try to use the Bible to coerce people into believing abortion is morally or biblically acceptable is a sin that is hard to move past.
LifeNews has posted an article intended to combat the efforts of Planned Parenthood to deceive people. Using sound biblical exegesis, Brad Mattes, the author of the article and president of Life Issues Institute, has soundly rebuked Planed Parenthood with a proper understanding of what the Bible teaches regarding life.
I encourage you to read the article, posted below, and share it with others that might be unsure of what the Bible teaches.
How the Church is Failing Millennials on the Homosexual Issue
Posted on June 9, 2014 in Sexuality by Nathan Cherry
I was just talking Sunday night with some folks in my church about how the church is failing our younger generations on the issue of homosexuality. To my surprise, they agreed with me. We all agreed that the popular church strategies of either ignoring the issue or of being soft and not fully addressing the issue is not helping; and is doing more harm than any intended good.
There is a number of ways that I believe the church is failing on this issue. As I told my friends I was discussing with after church Sunday night, the world believes Christians are in one of two camps: the Westboro Baptist camp, or the we’re-all-God’s-children camp.
In other words, people think Christians either hate all homosexuals and want to see harm come to them; a la Westboro Baptist. Or that we believe we’re all God’s children (a heretical lie) and that God made people gay.
Either of these two positions is false and problematic. But there is one particular reason why I believe the church is failing millennials on this very critical issue.
Planned Parenthood Sends “Pastoral Letter” Lying About Biblical Position on Abortion
Posted on June 4, 2014 in Life by Nathan Cherry
Planned Parenthood must be feeling desperate. So desperate that they have sent a “pastoral letter” to their patients sharing their version of the Bible which includes no mention of abortion and approval for the murderous procedure. The letter is posted below so you can rad it in it’s entirety. But believe me when I tell you that there is nothing “pastoral” or biblical about this letter.
Very quickly let me point out the glaring problems. First it says that abortion is not mentioned in Scripture. That’s true, abortion by name is not mentioned, just like smoking pot, sniffing cocaine, and many other modern terms. However, the Bible is very clear that murder is wrong – you can find it in those 10 commandments. From beginning to end the Bible makes clear that murder in any form is wrong, that is undeniable. Since abortion is clearly the murder of an innocent child, it is very easy to understand that the Bible condemns abortion as murder.
Parkersburg Wrestling Team Will Keep Wearing Bible Themed Shirts
Posted on June 1, 2014 in Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
The kerfuffle that began over a Bible verse printed on the Parkersburg South wrestling team shirts seems to be over, for now. (Click here to read a State Journal article detailing the events and the apparent outcome.)
In case you missed what has transpired over the last couple of weeks, here’s the basic story line.
The Parkersburg South wrestling team has been wearing shirts with the Bible verse Philippians 4:13, ‘I can do all things through Him who gives me strength,’ for years. The shirts are bought by parents and students are not required to wear them. Each student that wears the shirt makes a personal decision to wear it.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, that lovely Wisconsin based legal group that relies on bullying and scare tactics, got a phone call from a single “concerned” person. That was enough to prompt the group to send one of their famous “threatening letters” designed to scare a school into backtracking.
Why Should Anyone Believe What a Christian Says?
Posted on May 21, 2014 in Sexuality, Theology by Nathan Cherry
It’s hard to read news headlines each day. I try to stay informed by maintaining a robust news aggregator service that I check daily. This allows me to read several hundred headlines each day and keeps me as informed as any person would want to be. But I admit that it is a difficult task.
Part of the difficulty is reading headlines related to Christians.
With all that Christians face from a lost and dying world each day it only compounds our burdens when we harm ourselves and the Gospel from within. When Christians behave in such a way so as to bring shame and embarrassment upon the Gospel we preach and the name of Jesus we are doing no one any favors. Most of all, we are helping to push others further away from Christ rather than being a tool to draw them to the Savior.
Here’s a headline I wish didn’t exist: “Peeping Pastor Pleads Guilty to Very Creepy Crime.” The article reports:
Don’t Fall for the DPTHLTCTOP Method of Raising Your Kids
Posted on May 16, 2014 in Family by Nathan Cherry
Do you want to help your kids?
This might seem like a silly question. You might be thinking that I’ve lost my grip on reality for asking something so inane and obvious. But, I think there is greater depth to this question and the answer than we might know. In fact, there is a possibility that you are doing more to harm your kids than help them.
Of course every parent wants to help. There is something in every parent (well, nearly every parent) that innately desires to do everything within our power to help our kids. This help looks different for every parent and child of course, but we all want to help.
Maybe we start teaching money management at a very young age so our kids will not get into financial trouble. Maybe we make sure our kids have the coolest clothes and shoes so other trendy kids will like them. Maybe we enroll our smaller than average child in martial arts class to make sure bully’s learn their lesson. I can see where each of these would be considered help.
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.