 Dear Michael,
Recently I read an article where you stated that you could no longer believe that God is directly responsible for the creation of the universe. I will have to admit that I read this from a facebook post which quoted a Christian news site. Having been burnt by this kind of “gotcha-journalism” before, I knew I needed to read your original blog from which this article quoted. Based on reading this entire post, I would like to respond to your blog entitled, “What Do We Believe?” Your article deeply concerns me – not just because of your lack of belief in the Creator and His revelation to us of how He created the heavens and the earth. My concern goes deeper than that. My greatest concern is on the way you cleverly dismiss the Bible as an authority because it is about belief, and yet tout yourself and modern-day science as a fitting replacement, Your arguments in this blog post take on the appearance of wisdom and ‘well thought out’ reasonings. The problem one finds while reading them is that, in the end, they are based on little more than a false premise that you are a free thinker without an ultimate authority. Your reason alone (informed by scientists who are smart enough to reject biblical creation and hold fast to evolutionary theory) leads you to your premises unlike those who hold the Bible as an authoritative book in all matters of faith and practice. You make an interesting statement early in your article. You state, “. . . pretty much everything is a belief because everything we know is built upon assumptions.” After this seemingly wise statement you speak of what happens when “some of what you built the words and concepts on – no longer exists.” From this dubious vantage point you begin to speak of God, the Bible, the book of Genesis – and eventually even whether what we believe about God is even important. What is fascinating is that you then use “your own words” to convince us not to judge or make distinctions based on what we may or may not believe to be God’s words (i.e. the Bible itself). Even though you seek to present some self-deprecating views of yourself, you do little more than replace one authority with another. What is truly fascinating when I read this article is that in the end – I become the authority over myself – just as you become the ultimate authority over yourself. You and I define our own words. You and I also choose to decide if our former definition of words were true – or were imposed upon us by others (in your case those who taught you the Bible in Christian school and church). You approach biblical authority with the greatest of skepticism while embracing current scientific theory as factual. What you have done in your really cool and open minded article is trade one form of authority for a different one. Whereas people like myself who CAN believe in a God-created universe – Adam and Eve – a 6000 year old earth – a literal world-wide flood – and personally my favorite, “naked people in a garden eating an apple being responsible for the death of the dinosaurs.” (Isn’t it interesting when you want to prove other people to be stupid – you not only denigrate their beliefs – you mock them by mis-stating them.) While we are held up to a very high-minded form of ridicule (notice the NOTE below), your particular views are help up as enlightened, gracious, and far more believable. We are seen as those who hold fast to defined words – while you are seen as one who is more interested in how someone lives. Your “healthy beliefs” are then given credit for leading to a “lifestyle” defined by caring attitudes about your neighbor, ministering and caring for the poor, and living according to James chapter 2 (which evidently IS God’s Word?). We are left thinking that we should reject the Bible as a literal authority (quite an authoritative thought, don’t you think) and be more loving and kind (at least how you define loving and kind – which considering the neighbor and poor stuff is hard to argue with – you know). What we actually get is a view where WE become our own authority – at least the “we” that agrees with modern scientific theory. I don’t hate you Michael – and neither do I know whether you are lost or saved at this point. All I’ve done is read your article – and yet that article concerns me greatly. It does because it presents the same lie that caused our world to end up in the mess it is in today. “Has God said?” is the lie to which I refer. The original lie was to distrust God’s Word – and instead decide that WE would make a much better god over ourselves. Isn’t that what Satan said to Eve? “God knows that in the day that you eat it – you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” How we live (which seems to be your way of determining what is best) is derived from what we believe to be truth. If truth then is solely in the eye of the beholder – because us-forbid we’d actually believe God’s revelation of Himself in the Bible – then isn’t it true that the beholder becomes God in the end? That is little more than a 6000 year old lie repackaged in really cool blog post. [NOTE: Yes, Adam and Eve were naked. No, they did not eat an apple – the Bible simply states it was fruit. Yes, the Fall of man into sin precipitated death in our world. No, the dinosaurs were not singled out in this judgment upon sin – and its effects on the earth. BUT . . . when lacing these facts and mental inventions together it does make the Bible accounts sound sufficiently stupid doesn’t it? How you state something truly does have an effect on how believable someone else views it. Imagine if I referred to evolutionary theory in a similar way. It is little more than believing that, “Everything came about as a result of nothing being done by no one for absolutely no reason at all.”]
0 Comments
 May the Lord gives us boldness and wisdom as we speak in these interesting days in which we live. This week I want to make you aware of a ruling that should concern all of us who cherish our freedom of religious speech.
Please allow me to begin by making the following statement concerning our so-called protected religious speech in the United States of America. Our constitution protects the right of free speech – and part of the speech protected is religious speech. That being said, those of us who belong to Christ need to know that God’s command for us to preach the gospel is not abridged by any government or law that is written or established by man. Regardless of what the governments of men say – we are to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples of all the nations. That command comes from a higher authority than that of mankind. It comes from God Himself. Therefore, it is imperative for us to remember that regardless of what decisions are reached by the IRS, the Supreme Court, or any other human entity, they do not trump the command of Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:18-20. We are to continue to proclaim the gospel – and if in the process we face punitive action by our governing authorities – we are to accept it gladly as we choose to obey God rather than men. This was the response made by the apostles as they were commanded by the governing authorities of their day not to speak or teach any longer in the name of Jesus. We should not respond any differently in our day. “What is all this about?” you may ask. It is about a ruling made a few days ago by the Internal Revenue Service in answer to a suit filed by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. They charged that the IRS was not investigating and punishing churches and pastors who preach politics from the pulpit. The law or ruling used for this invasion of our nation’s pulpits is actually not even from our Constitution, but rather is from an IRS ruling in 1954. At that time Senator Lyndon B. Johnson urged this measure so that he could use it against specific opponents of his agenda and that of the Democrat party. This provision was gradually extended to include religious groups and their speech in regard to specifically endorsing a candidate in an election from the pulpit. Some may read this and wonder why this has become a problem – and why I voice concern over it. That, my dear saints, has to do with where our government is going in regards to its moral stances being taken in our day. Many of these issues are not being decided in Congress, which is the only place laws are to be passed, but by executive decisions of the President – or by courts that are legislating from the bench. Because of decisions rendered over the past several decades, the sacred arena of religious speech has been invaded by the secular government. In 1973 the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision attacked life in the womb. And more recently a wave of lower court decisions have attacked the sanctity of biblical marriage. As these decisions have been politicized, elections have included debates over whether these decisions are just or not. Such debates REQUIRE a response from the spiritual leaders in America. Those spiritual leaders are the pastors of local churches, who have found it necessary to teach what the Scriptures have to say about these issues of life and marriage. Here is where this issue is going to reach a head. Is the IRS going to rule in such a way that pastors are no longer allowed to teach certain passages that will be deemed “preaching politics?” Will we watch pastors be cited, fined, and possibly even arrested for teaching on Romans 1:18-25 (dealing with homosexuality) and Psalm 139 (dealing with the sanctity of the womb)? The day may come where we are forbidden by the state to teach such things without losing our tax exempt status. The day may also come when things far worse that this may result. Baring God moving in our country, the day will come when pastors will be fined or arrested for committing a hate crime because they dared teach these passages INSIDE the church. May God give us grace to stand and teach His Word, with grace and meekness, regardless of the consequences. May God strengthen us to hold fast the faithful Word He has given us – not surrendering to political correctness or even punitive threats to abandon it because it has become socially unpopular in our day to do so. |
 What is the Prophecy/News Update?At Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro, we believe that history is moving toward fulfilling God's plans and purposes. In an effort to help us be prepared for His appearing - and also to chronicle news items you just won't see in the national media - this page is devoted to sharing those items and their possible significance to 
Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend.
Thank you!  Archives
July 2020
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed