Pointing in the wrong direction

November 30, 2007 at 11:28 am | In Christianity | Leave a Comment
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There has been a lot of attention brought to bear on Philip Pullman’s series “His Dark Materials”. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, the series is a trilogy in which two children find a way to succeed in killing God. The first book in the series, “The Golden Compass” has been made into a motion picture set to be released on December 7th of this year.

 

The director of the film has said that this first film is a watered down version of the corresponding book. He said that it is his hope that the success of this watered down movie will allow them to make the two remaining movies in the trilogy closer to the way they were written, full of anti-God and anti-Christian sentiments.

 

Scholastic Inc. has even launched a grade school curriculum and a contest to go along with the movie’s release.

 

The sad part about all of this is that Christian parents and children alike are likely to be drawn in by the look of the movie’s trailers. They look very similar to those from the “Lord of the Rings” and “Chronicles of Narnia” series. If the flash and action draw the kids into the movie theaters, they will most likely desire to read the books. And without doing research on the movie or the books, parents may help their kids right out of their belief in God.

 

I would seriously recommend any Christian to avoid this movie, the corresponding books, and all the hype and to let others know about it as well.

The Church doesn’t cause cancer!

November 28, 2007 at 11:20 am | In Christianity | Leave a Comment
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I have a word of good news for those who read my blog (both of you)!

It has now been found that going to church doesn’t cause cancer! Wait…That’s not right.

I mean that it’s been found that it doesn’t cause any harm to children to take them to church. A recent survey taken by Ellison Research says that 56% of those who no longer attend church services still believe that the time that they spent in church as a youth had a positive impact on their lives. 31% said that it was a negative experience, but over all, those who were questioned said that it did many things to help them including giving them a deeper faith and increasing their religious knowledge.

You know what this means right? Now that there has been a survey done by some research company, the church will feel comfortable telling people to come to church. They won’t worry quite as much about hurting someone’s feelings, trying to dance around the issue, or being “seeker sensitive”.

Although I would like to ask why, I am pretty sure that I know why someone wouldn’t want their kids in church. I mean, why would you want them to know right from wrong? Why should they know about absolute truth or morality? Why should they be shown that God is real and that Jesus can be found in history? Why should they be raised up on a moral foundation that will keep them from walking into their high school or college with a gun and shooting others? Why should they learn about sexual purity and the sanctity of life?

If they learned all of that as children, they might grow up to be respectable members of society who are responsible for themselves, concerned about others, and function in society at a level where it’s actually improved for all. If they learned all this as children then they might be able to be held accountable when they do wrong and be punished instead of being made a victim. It might even mean that they could hold their parents, family, and friends accountable too!

It would certainly be a different place, even for those who would deny the very truth they were taught….

A good example of Christianity…

November 20, 2007 at 1:48 pm | In Christianity | Leave a Comment
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In a true example of pride and denial, the Episcopal Church and its Virginian diocese are preparing to battle with some of its former members of property that equates to millions of dollars.

The members are the majorities of 11 former Episcopal congregations that voted to separate from an Episcopal (Anglican) Church that has “continually walked away from their scriptural foundation”. They caused a large commotion back in 2003 when they ordained an openly homosexual man as bishop. Since then, they have continued their slide and compromise of scripture. It is this that has brought about the separation.

The sad thing is, when the split was announced, the first reaction of both the Virginian diocese and the Episcopal Church was in the form of lawsuits to make sure that they kept the land. It wasn’t about the people or trying to heal the rift they caused. They have reacted to this situation in a very prideful way. They are defending their right to the property by saying that no split occurred because the governing body of the EC didn’t recognize it.

In other words, “We know that there is a lot of wrong and that we’re the source. We know that we are causing a lot of grief and strife, but instead of dealing with it, we’re just going to pretend that it’s not happening…”

The funny thing is, if I were looking at the case (and I realize that I’m not), I would side with the people who split, because their argument and concern that the EC is no longer holding to scripture is true. Because of this, I would determine that the EC is no longer representing the church that its congregations were told it was. The church is basically false advertising. If this is true and the EC is no longer truly the EC, then they really don’t have any right to the property that they claim is theirs.

What’s sad about all of this, is that there are going to be two trials and in the end, people who profess to be Christians are just going to make the rest of us look like the world. How does any of this spread the message of the gospel? How does any of this keep people from going to hell? It doesn’t.

That is the real shame….

Olympic bordellos?

November 20, 2007 at 1:40 pm | In Christianity | 2 Comments
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Just in time for the Olympics, Vancouver is looking at making prostitution legal. Both the MP and governor of Vancouver have given their support to the legalization of prostitution.

Susan Davis, who is an active prostitute and the spokesperson for the “BC Coalition of Experiential Communities”, says that she is “weeks away” from getting the stamp of approval to become a corporation. Her “corporation” is looking at setting up a number of legalized bordellos “as an experiment” similar to the Vancouver safe injection site failure(where addicts could inject themselves with their own heroin/cocaine using clean needles under a nurse’s supervision). She claims that thousands of people will be pouring into the city looking for sex during the Olympics.

Ok, I’ve got to stop here and just let you know that my common sense tells me that this is an extremely bad idea. Not only is this a bad idea for the city of Vancouver, but it’s a bad idea for the women who choose a life of prostitution. Many of those against this new development echo these sentiments. They point out how other countries have already tried this and failed miserably. They have shown evidence that legalizing prostitution does more to protect the men using the women than it protects the women.

The thing that I’m most concerned about though is that there is one thing that hasn’t even been mentioned throughout this whole thing.

 PROSTITUTION IS SIN!  

This statement leads me to the most appalling part of this whole ordeal. The Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth has stated that he supports the legalization of bordellos. He said that he takes the pragmatic view that “because prostitution happens, we need to make sure that it is as well regulated as possible for health reasons and for the safety of the women”. I can’t help but find myself laughing at this statement. “We’re going to legalize prostitution for health reasons”? Does anyone else see this as ridiculous? And, to be honest, can you truly make the women safer? Aren’t the customers and their intentions going to be the same regardless?

The Bishop also says that he supports the effort because “a zero-tolerance stance on this issue has not worked”. Really? It hasn’t worked? Maybe that’s because it was never really tried to begin with? To say that zero-tolerance doesn’t work but coddle the people who support prostitution and live it out is counter productive. For zero-tolerance to work, (wait for it) you can’t have any tolerance! How about having zero-tolerance for sin!?!

I think that this is just another example of people trying to make an effort to hide their sin behind the government. Instead of acknowledging sin and repenting, they want to legalize it so that it becomes less of an issue. “Well, the government says it’s ok so I’m fine with that”. It doesn’t matter who is fine with it if God is not! Canada, like America, needs to repent of its sin and turn back to God.

Just say….shut up?

November 19, 2007 at 10:57 am | In Christianity | Leave a Comment
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During a recent Ibero-American summit, King Juan Carlos of Spain made a very pronounced comment to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

Throughout the summit, Chavez railed against the US and those who supported them. In the Latin American countries there is little support, with El Salvador being the only country to have troops in Iraq to support the war.

Chavez talked about former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and severly criticized him for his actions. When the current Prime Minister began to rebuke Chavez and told him that he should respect the former official, Chavez continuously interrupted the scolding with interruptions, telling the PM that he “could say what he liked”. It was at this point that King Juan Carlos leaned over and said:

“Por que no te callas?”  Which in English means, “Why don’t you shut up?”

Not long after this, as the Nicaraguan president attacked Spain for interfering with his country’s politics, the king just got up and walked out.

I applaud the king for his actions. Some have criticized him for what he did, but I think that there should be more of this. There is no reason that anyone (especially the leader of a country) should come to a summit with other countries and talk the way that Chavez and his (many) supporters did.

It seems that, more and more, there are people who think that because they can shout, slam their fist, and go on a tirade, they should be listened to and respected for that. It happens here in the US too. There are lobbyist groups who seem to act like Chavez. Many of the groups have an anti-Christian agenda. You seem to see this kind of politics most from the pro-homosexual groups. They shout and yell about how Christians are mistreating them and how their rights are being trampled on and how they should be allowed to say whatever they want because it is a free country. Yet, when Christians stand up and say the same thing – that it’s a free country, that we have a right to say what we believe, and that we are being ignored – we are further criticized by the media.

I think that it’s time that the leaders of this nation started listening to everyone instead of just some special interest groups who give them money. I think that it’s time that leaders started acting like leaders and not even giving people like Chavez the time of day. We don’t need a bunch of special groups trying to push their agendas on the rest of us. There are plenty of other countries that support and allow what many of these groups are crying out for here. Let them go there. America is a nation that was/is built on Judeo-Christian principles and it’s time that our leaders rebuilt that foundation so that we can be “One Nation Under God” again…

  

They broke the mark!

November 12, 2007 at 11:20 am | In Christianity | Leave a Comment
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I have been a bit busy between soccer, looking for a job, writing blogs, working on an online T shirt shop, and writing Squidoo lenses, but I wanted to take just a minute to write and congratulate a special ministry.

For the last few years, Answers in Genesis, a ministry outside Cincinnati, Ohio, has been forging ahead with a planned museum promoting the biblical view of creation and the foundation of the Word of God. They have faced ridicule and persecution throughout the process and many news media outlets scoffed when they announced plans to open a museum that taught that the earth is only about 6,000 years old (as opposed to the billions of years promoted by evolutionists), that there was indeed a global flood that wiped out all but 8 people from the face of the earth and covered the entire planet with water, that the Tower of Babel gave us different languages, and how Jesus Christ stepped into the history of the world as God made flesh to die on the cross for our sins.

The museum was completed this past spring and opened on Memorial Day of this year in the midst of protests and petitions.

Recently, the museum saw it’s 250,000th visitor pass through the doors. In less than six months, the museum has had more visitors than it was expecting all year. By the end of the year, they are expecting around 400,000 people to have visited the museum.

Congrats to Ken Ham and everyone at AIG who have worked hard, stood on faith, and presented the truth of the gospel!

Where did it go?

November 10, 2007 at 10:41 am | In Christianity | Leave a Comment
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Reading some of the headlines recently and watching what is going on in local, national, and global churches I’ve got to ask one question…

Where did common sense go?

Sam Brownback is supporting John McCain’s run for president, even though their views differ where embryonic stem cell research is concerned….

Pat Robertson has publicly announced his support for Rudy Guiliani even though the former mayor is pro-homosexual and pro-abortion….

America’s “leaders” continue to move toward splitting Israel to give Palestinians a home even though they know that anti-Israeli factions are using elementary schools and other areas to launch attacks from (and they want peace?)…

Am I the only one that seems to find this both extremely ridiculous and very depressing at the same time? Brownback and Robertson are professing Christians and both of them are supporting people who hold to anti-Christian values. Is this right? Is anyone else offended? Does anyone else question their wisdom?

If this is the kind of “Christian” that Brownback is, then it’s better that he decided not to run rather than get elected and then disappoint all of the people that voted for him. Robertson has been back and forth on many issues (and made many other statements that make me wonder about what he truly believes) but to openly recommend that Christians vote for someone like Guiliani makes me question him.

Some of you might be sitting there thinking, “well, Guiliani and McCain would be better than Hillary. It’s the lesser of two evils.” While I agree with the first part, and truly believe that if Hillary gets into office, this entire nation will be in HUGE trouble, I disagree with the second part.

Choosing the lesser of two evils is still CHOOSING EVIL!!!

As Christians, we are called to be pure, holy, true, and just. It is because we have chosen the lesser of two evils throughout the past few centuries that the church is in the state that it’s in. Instead of choosing evil at all, we need to choose what God says is right, the way that He says it is right, and trust that He will take care of everything else. Unfortunately most Christians won’t give this a second thought because standing for what God says and who He is means letting go of sin, getting ridiculed and persecuted for living differently from the world, and studying the Bible(dear God has it come to that!). So as we drift farther and farther away from God and trust in “Christian leaders” who look less and less like the Bible says Christians look, I can only cry out once again and say that it’s time for the church to STOP IT!

If all of this doesn’t change and our nation ends up as some extension of another country or Christians become physically persecuted and this once-Christian nation turns out to be just like all the other non-Christian nations, I won’t say “I told you so…”.

I’ll be too busy weeping for America and what could have been….

Money or children?

November 9, 2007 at 11:25 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
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Practicing physician and GOP senator Tom Coburn has painted himself into a really tiny corner with his latest statements. The “pro-life” republican senator is quoted in the Hill newspaper as saying the national debt is a greater moral issue because it “burdens our children with debt before they’re even born”. “The greatest moral issue of our time isn’t abortion, it’s robbing our next generation of opportunity.”

You mean like the opportunity to live? For someone who claims to be pro-life, this seems very cold and uncaring. If you think that abortion is the murdering of children, how could you honestly say that debt is a greater moral issue? Could it possibly be that part of the reason that this nation is in the state that it’s in (aside from the pornography, sexual immorality, and our determination to slowly divide Israel) is because we are killing unborn children? Do you think that that might have something to do with it?

According to senator Coburn, the fact that our nation has a huge debt is more important that a life that is senselessly and coldly slaughtered by someone who is supposed to love them…

In America, since abortion was made legal, there has been an estimated 46 million legal abortions. This doesn’t include the illegal ones, just the legal ones (that makes me sick just typing that). Our national debt is an estimated 9.1 trillion dollars as of Oct. 27th. The national debt in 1973 (when abortion was made legal) was 4.7 trillion dollars. The difference is 4.4 trillion dollars. If we divide the number of abortions into the debt that has been accumulated since abortion was made legal, then each baby killed is approximately worth 96 thousand dollars. I didn’t do this for any other reason than to show how little value life has compared to the value we’ve placed on material things like money.

One thing that I continuously fail to understand is how someone who claims to be pro-life could hold views like this? Has the English language lost all sense of meaning? Is English all relative too? Is what is said all that really matters? If I say that I’m a Christian and that I’m pro-life, does it matter how I vote or what I do?

YES IT DOES!

We whine and moan about wanting someone who will do something for America to bring it from where it is to the idealistic land of plenty that we all want it to be. Ya know, I’ve got a sobering thought about that….

Maybe we killed them…

Who’s responsibility is it?

November 8, 2007 at 11:13 am | In Christianity | 1 Comment
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I’ve been thinking a lot lately and watching some of the things that are going on in the church and I’ve gotta ask a question…

Who’se resposibility is it?

You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this so please try to bear with me. I have being watching some of what’s been going on in the church and I don’t understand it. This one question is actually a lot of questions. The funny thing is, I’ve got answers for the questions, but they don’t seem to match the answer that the modern Christian church gives.

For example, whose responsibility is it to reach out to the lost?

   My Answer: It is the responsibility of EVERY Christian to reach out to those around them with the gospel.

   The Church’s Answer (TCA): It is the responsibility of a select few who are “called” as evangelists to go out and win souls for Jesus.

Who’s responsibility is it to make sure that Christians know the truth?

   My Answer: It is the resposibility of the Christian to know the truth for themselves. It is up to them to be like the Bereans (Acts 17) and study to show themselves approved (2 Tim 2:15).

   TCA: It is the responsibility of the pastors and their assistants to provide programs that will help “bring in the lost” and “get people plugged into” the church and “what God is doing”.

All of this kind of talk aggrevates me. I see more and more churches practicing Penguin Christianity. What is Penguin Christianity? Have you ever watched a penguin feed it’s kids? They chew up the food, swallow it to let it digest, and then feed their kids…

That’s what is happening in the church today! We have about 20-30 churches within 5 miles of where I live and I got to thinking yesterday. We have a population of about 10000 people. If the church really was doing what it should, and if Christians actually acted like Christians, and if the church really did have the answers like it proposes, then why haven’t we changed this entire area? Why isn’t this a hotspot for God’s kingdom? Surely with 20-30 churches full of people who are “on fire for God” and “doing the Lord’s work” we should be able to turn this place upside down! Instead, what we have is a group of people who are all about emotion, promoting their brand of Christianity that makes others comfortable where they are and tries to walk them through a “Christianity Lite” kind of experience. What we have is a group of people who talk about “being on fire for God” and need to be concerned about just being on fire when Jesus returns. That may be harsh, but I’m tired of watching church after church try to court sinners in an effort to bulk up their numbers and make it look like they’re “about their Father’s business”. I’m tired of the church dancing around the truth in an effort to please everyone…

NEWSFLASH: That’s not going to happen. The truth isn’t going to please everyone because they’re not going to want to hear it! I love people and don’t want anything bad to happen to anyone, but that fact alone is what makes me go out to preach to others. That fact alone is what makes me tell others that JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY! It is because I have a severe desire to see people snatched from the fires of hell that puts me in the position of telling them that if they die in their sins without Jesus they will end up smack dab in the middle of hell.

Instead of the church trying to be all things to all people to the point that they have no substance, we need to take a really good look at where we are and how far away from Christ we are. And then we need to cry out in repentence for misrepresenting our Lord and Savior and making Him a laughing stock. Then we can ask God for the boldness to tell others that judgment is coming and how they can be spared from the fires of hell.

Maybe then when people come into the church looking for answers they find them instead of getting a song, a dance, and “Jesus loves you and died for your sins” with a plastic smile.

Not standing on the same platform?

November 6, 2007 at 10:30 am | In Christianity | Leave a Comment
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Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has just given us all another example of a politician having absolutely no conviction about what he/she believes.

The newest example of “a form of godliness” that denies “the power thereof” came on “Meet the Press” this past Sunday (November 4th). Mr. Thompson stated that he is personally pro-life, that he could not run on a platform that desires to place a ban on all abortions.

I just wanted to ask a couple questions before I continue. Does this make Thompson a Republican? If he won’t run on their platform, then can he call himself a Republican? Second, does this seem really shaky as far as conviction goes?

Thompson’s view of the abortion issue is that the states should be allowed to make the decision state by state as to whether abortion should be legal. He also said that we should not “criminalize the taking of human life through abortion”.

So what exactly is his stance on the issue then? He says that he’s pro-life, but then says that we should make those who take the life of an unborn child into the murderers that they are. They shouldn’t be criminals like the other people that take the life of a human being. I wonder if Mr. Thompson really knows what he’s talking about or what he believes….

He continued his dancing by bringing up the tired canard of “extreme situations”. What percentage of all the abortions currently performed in America are due to “extreme situations” and how do they justify murder?

Thompson also told Tim Russert that he didn’t think that having an amendment going back to a time before Roe v. Wade would be “the way to go”.  You mean that going back to a time before people senselessly slaughtered unborn children like sheep (without so much as a second thought in many cases) isn’t the direction that our nation needs to go?

Thompson states that he is consistent in his voting and that if he were president, he would remain consistent. That he would be “100 percent pro-life”. Is he really 100% pro-life though? If he’s willing to compromise the beliefs he espouses in a matter of an hour, then how can we be sure that he will “hold to” those same beliefs over the course of four years where he will face much more pressure than he is now?

It seems that today’s politicians don’t understand something that seems fundamental to me. Maybe that means that I wouldn’t make a good politician, I don’t know. The American people want somone who represents them. In Congress, In the state governments, in the judicial system. We want someone who truly stands for us and doesn’t just give us a line of garbage so that they can get more money, power, and prestige. Sadly, the group of people that have had the hardest time finding someone who truly represents them is the Christian one. Christians have had a hard time finding someone who stands consistently on the Word of God and not on the popular opinion. When someone will run on “Christian” beliefs, and then deny those same beliefs in press releases and televisions shows (Like “Meet the Press” and Bill O’Reilly’s show), why would I vote for you? You don’t truly represent me, you are just pretending to stand where I do so that you can get my vote.

I, for one, would love to see politicians who are at least honest. For once, I would love to hear the truth from political candidates.

“Nope. I won’t ban abortions if I get into office. I think that teens who are promiscuous and having sex outside of marriage should be allowed to kill the baby that comes from their sin.”

“If I become president of the United States, then I’m going to push my own agenda and completely erase the Christian foundation that so many men and women died for. And, I’m going to erase the evidence that they even believed in God so that those who are convicted when confronted with the absolute truth of God won’t have to worry about being uncomfortable anymore.”

“My first act as president will be to completely remove all support for Israel and what they are facing. I’m going to be a selfish, backstabbing, creep who doesn’t care about what the Bible says about dividing Israel. I think that groups of people who only recently became an actual group of people should try to be crammed into the smallest country in that area and I don’t care what Christians or anyone else thinks. Vote for me!”

“I’m going to completely cave to the pressure of special interest groups and do everything that I can to appease them.”

It would be a little horrifying, but in a way it would be refreshing to be able to know exactly what someone truly believes. Of course, for that to happen, they have to know what they believe first.

If this country is ever going to step back into the place that we should be in, then it will be on the backs of a leadership and a people who will be stand for what they believe. Honestly, unless this nation is rebuilt upon the Christian values and beliefs, it doesn’t stand a chance….

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