Friday, December 6, 2013

Faith vs Wolrdview

I think there is an important distinction which needs to be made nowadays between the difference of Christian faith and Christian worldview. Let me explain. These days, one can run into many people who will claim they "love Jesus" and attend church; however, if one were to probe deeper into this person's affection for Jesus, oftentimes one will discover the person's worldview to be completely at odds with Scripture. The individual will affirm and endorse homosexuality, same-sex "marriage", relativism, "all roads lead to God" notion, people are good and other ideas that do not coincide with a biblical framework of reality.

I do not doubt that there are genuine followers of Christ who happen to be completely ignorant of what it means to cultivate and develop a biblical worldview. The church and parents are mostly to blame for that. What one doe snot see very often is a follower of Christ who has trusted Jesus for his salvation after recognizing his own sinfulness and gradually crafting an outlook of reality that is explicitly biblical.

Cultivating a Christian worldview means behaving and thinking in such a way that aligns with what the Triune God of Scripture commands and teaches. If God says "...a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh," then that excludes any relationship which wants to be deemed marriage as unacceptable. That is, any relationship falling outside the boundaries of a man and a woman is not marriage. Yet it is not uncommon to find self-identifying Christians which will not hold fast to this biblical teaching. They will jump on board with the world and promote the redefinition of marriage to include homosexual relationships.

It seems the root issue for some Christians is the authority and inspiration of Scripture. If one believes the Bible is full of errors, contradictions, etc. then one will not take seriously what it proclaims about the world. However, for the faithful follower of Christ who believes God has spoken to His creation through special revelation, they ought to be more intentional about developing a Christian worldview. For those doubting the authority of the Bible, I suggest they read books and articles by men of faith who have dealt with this issue a long time ago (e.g., James White, Greg Bahsnen, among many).

It is extremely vital for Christians not to be sucked into the deception and foolishness of the world. When one listens to the news of current events which are happening within our very nation, it is truly disheartening. Animals valued more than humans; babies being killed within a mother's womb; indoctrination within colleges and K-12 schools; the list goes on. As Christians, let us read the Bible and think deeply how what we read carries over into our society today. Granted this is not always easy but it is sure worth the effort.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Pain and Gain

I watched Marky Mark and the Rock's movie, Pain and Gain last night. I was mostly disgusted by it. Not because of the unnecessary foul language or perverted and unfunny jokes, but because of the Rock's character. Once again we have Hollywood portraying Christians as morons.

The Rock's character is a man who supposedly became saved while in prison. Throughout the movie, he is seen attending strip clubs, using foul language, sniffing coke, abusing alcohol and participating in serious criminal activities. He's a hypocrite. Isn't this the media's favorite portrayal of Christians? It sure is.

The Rock's character is also depicted as an idiot. He says some of the most dumb statements and seems to have the intelligence of a high-school kid. He is also shown acting out ridiculous scenes, such as displaying his supposed power to convert anyone by placing his hand on one character's head and commanding him to believe in Jesus.

I'm so tired of trash like this. I'm a bit surprised that the Rock would even take on such an offensive role such as this. I wonder if he, Marky Mark, the director Michael Bay or anyone else in the cast would consider doing another movie similar to Pain and Gain but this time instead of a Christian being mocked throw in a Muslim instead. I wonder how that outcome will be.

You won't see this happen because #1 Islam is a politically correct privileged religion. Any negative criticism whatsoever will not be heard by the media. #2 these people do not have the guts to do such a thing for they know (or should know) that mocking or making fun of anything related to Islam is almost suicidal. Like Bart Ehrman said, when asked if he would ever write a textual criticism related book on the Quran, "I'll write one when I stop valuing my life." Hollywood is full of cowards.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Bottom of the Bottle

Why are so many people caught up in chasing the bottom of a bottle? That is, why is there so much desire to drink alcohol? It would be a mistake to neglect the huge influence of music, movies and television show. I believe media to be the paramount influencer regarding consumption of alcohol and partying all the time.

What I'm talking about her is not individuals who have an occasional drink. I don't have in mind those who enjoy drinking wine or beer with meals. I'm not thinking of those who drink during special occasions. I'm considering the individuals who equate having fun with going to bars and getting drunk.

I lost track of the number of surprised faces I've encountered when I expressed that I don't drink and I don't go to bars. One usually looks at me like I'm from Jupiter. I've even had people ask me a follow-up question: "Well, what do you do?" They ask it as though there is nothing more fun than getting drunk. One is out of the loop if one isn't a consumer of alcohol.

At my places of employment, whenever someone mentions the notion of everyone getting together outside of work to hang out, the very first idea put forth is to meet at a bar and drink. If a bar isn't mentioned, then some other place is but then the person says he or she will bring some alcohol.

What's going on? Why can't co-workers, friends, family, etc... congregate without drinking alcohol? Why is it craved so much? It's a waste of time and money. I can't think of one real benefit of involving alcohol in one's life. I'm open to ideas. It's destructive to one's body and is extremely correlative with crime. What benefit is there?

Let's start getting more creative and branching out in the world. There are many other activities to do other than consuming alcohol. There's a whole world out there and different things for different people. Let's put down the booze and realize there's more to life than getting to the bottom of another bottle.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The dreaded S-word

I watched an interview the other night with volleyball player Gabrielle Reece. I guess she recently wrote a book about her marriage and family life so one of the major news stations was interviewing her about it.

I don't know much about Mrs. Reece but I must admit that I was pleased with many of the answers she provided during the interview. I just want to comment on one particular statement she made during the interview.

The interviewer quoted Mrs. Reece's book where she said something about how women should act in order to maintain their marriage. One of the things Mrs. Reece mentions is that a wife should be submissive to her husband. The interviewer's eyes opened wide when she quoted this particular statement from the book. The interviewer said many women might find that ......offensive. I couldn't help but roll my eyes and laugh to myself. Let me offer some thoughts on this.

First, the book tells of how Mrs. Reece lives out her marriage and I guess she's trying to offer advice as well for other women. Who would be so childish to become offended at a woman offering another woman marriage advice? If her hearers don't agree or like it, simply ignore it.

Second, unfortunately, when most in our society hear the word "submissive" they imagine a woman in rags who is virtually a slave to her husband. I don't believe this is at all what Mrs. Reece meant by her statement. She maintained that she voluntarily submits. She takes on the role of mother and wife and handles the daily chores and tasks of a housewife. This doesn't seem at all to bother her one bit. Good for her.

Third, I'm not surprised that this interviewer would pick out such a quote from Mrs. Reece's book and use the words she used. Who cares if anyone would become "offended" at such a statement? For those who would become offended, give me a break. "Offend" is the new buzz word for sissies and many (especially Leftists) use it to silence their opponents.

If you don't agree with what someone says, just tune them out.   

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Ben Franklin-- Pride

"In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue

as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as

one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself;

you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I

had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility." --Benjamin Franklin

Friday, March 1, 2013

Jeremiah 28

In chapter 28 of the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah is confronted by a supposed prophet of God, Hananiah. Jeremiah's message to the Israelites is one of judgment by God; however, Hananiah comes along and prophesies a message contrary to what Jeremiah had spoken. The LORD speaks to Jeremiah again and gives him amessage to give to Hananiah. The message confirms what the LORD has already told Jeremiah, thus falsifying Hananiah's claim. That same year, Hananiah dies. I reccommend for the reader to read the account itself for a better understanding of the passage.

What we have here is a clash of proclamations. Both individuals claim to speak for God yet the proclamations conflict with one another. How does one decide who to believe? God did give instruction in Deuteronomy on how to judge whether a prophet is truly speaking for God. The people were to wait and see whether what the prophet said came true. If it did, the prophet spoke from God. If it didn't, he wasn't speaking for God and he was to be put to death.

In our own day, Christians face the same challenge as Jeremiah. Granted, Christians aren't receiving special revelation directly from God as the prophets did, but we have His word written. The Scripture is sufficient for us to know all we need to know about God and His plan of redemption. It's what He has chosen to reveal to humanity at this point in history and we ought not to step outside of its boundaries. However, there are many who do step outside the boundaries.

There are many distortions of God's word which are proffered in our day. I won't go through the list here but there are plenty of individuals and groups which deny key aspects which God has revealed to us in Scripture. One example being those who deny the doctrine of the Trinity. The Scripture is not ours to edit; rather, it is ours to proclaim and defend. I believe it was either Martin Luther or John Calvin who said something like "Just as a dog stands by his master to defend him, so a Christian must stand by and defend God's truth."