Tag Archives: absolute truth

The Scarlet L

I must confess that often the reason I write one of these small essays is when something ticks me off. And, you guessed it, again something has rubbed me the wrong way. Actually, it has been something percolating for a time in that part of my brain that registers frustration and irritation. A few things I have heard recently have now caused the percolation to increase to a boil. Here is what I am upset over…

I am pretty tired of any time a Christian makes a statement that a certain behavior is sinful, as defined by the Bible itself, then that person is branded as intolerant and mean-spirited. I am tired of preachers and teachers being labeled as judgmental any time they address the issue of sin, especially specific ungodly actions. I am tired of parents, teachers, and church workers being castigated as being legalistic whenever they expect Christians of any age, but especially children, to behave in ways that the Scriptures deem as righteous and godly. Bottom line: I am tired of being judged as unfair, unforgiving, and ungracious when I simply agree with what the Bible says about sin, wickedness and evil.

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The Power of Truth

“For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth” (2 Corinthians 13:8).

A. W. Tozer was an amazing man of God.  I love to read his books, but I can count on coming away with sore toes.  He inspires, challenges, rebukes, convicts and encourages.  His works are not light reading, or for anyone who likes a candy-coated, fluffy message.  Consider this quote from Tozer:

“Little by little, Christians these days are being brainwashed. One evidence is that increasing numbers of them are becoming ashamed to be found unequivocally on the side of truth. They say they believe, but their beliefs have been so diluted as to be impossible of clear definition. Moral power has always accompanied definite beliefs. Great saints have always been dogmatic. We need a return to a gentle dogmatism that smiles while it stands stubborn and firm on the Word of God that lives and abides forever.” 

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The Dangers of Subjectivism

Recently I have been doing research on the Emergent Church.  Just in case you are not familiar with this movement, let me give you a little background.  The Emergent Church movement originated in conversations between various pastors, youth pastors and church leaders back in the 1990’s.  They were concerned about certain trends and practices they saw in the church.  They were especially concerned about how relevant and effective the church was in reaching a postmodern culture.  Out of their conversations arose an entire movement which has swept through America, Britain, Australia and other parts of the world.

The original ambitions of those involved in these conversations were noble and good.  However, in their efforts to address the concerns of a postmodern society, they ended up becoming a postmodern movement.  It seems, at least in their thinking, that to be relevant you must accommodate yourself to the culture—even if this accommodation involves sacrificing some of the foundational truths of the Christian faith. Continue reading

Evil = Okay!?

We live in a day when everything is relative.  According to the popular mythology, nothing is absolute.  (How popular mythologists get by with this absolute I will never understand.)  Truth and morality are situational, personal, relational and relative.  The all-too common thinking runs something like this: “If I think it is okay, then it is okay.  If I perceive it as moral and good, then it must be moral and good.”  Usually what such thinkers actually mean is “if what I am doing is something I want to do—that makes me happy—then it must be good.” Continue reading

Raindrops Keep Falling On Our Heads

One of the premier events for Christian young people in this country is the Urbana conference.  This event is sponsored by Intervarsity Christian ministries and is held every three years.  It is one of the largest Christian youth events in the world.  The most recent conference was December 27-31, 2015 and was held in St. Louis, MO.  Advancing Native Missions had a display there, with a number of staff representing ANM.

Back in our offices in Virginia, we received regular reports about what was happening at the conference.  One of these reports noted that social media from the conference was very interesting.  There were a number of posts to Facebook and Twitter commenting on the fact that the LGBT community was not represented at the conference.  Fascinating.  Would you really expect the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender community to be a part of this conference?  For some, apparently yes. Continue reading