​And so, the blessed narrative is born out of this constant series of declarations from our political, cultural, and even religious power brokers. The narrative tells me that Caitlyn Jenner is a woman, though biology (general revelation) and Genesis 1:27 says otherwise. If I accept that narrative, I bear false witness against Mr. Jenner, because his Creator made him male, not female. The narrative tells me that gay marriage should be celebrated, though Romans 1 specifically declares that such people have exchanged the truth for a lie. To embrace gay marriage is to bear false witness in two ways. First, against heterosexual marriage in that it is no longer the marital union exclusively established by God. Second, to say a homosexual union is legitimate is to bear false witness against the Holy Spirit of God, whose revelation declares it to be otherwise. The narrative joyfully celebrates a mother’s freedom to murder her unborn child, but Psalm 127 declares them to be gifts from God. To embrace abortion is to bear false witness against the child by declaring it deserving of a death sentence, when Genesis 9:6 reserves that punishment for a crime the unborn could not possibly commit. Here again, the false testimony extends to the Holy Spirit, as we declare the sixth commandment null and void. The narrative wags one finger in my face and threatens to slap me with the other if I live, speak, or act out of the lordship of Christ, yet Christ himself commands otherwise.

Edie Wyatt elegantly and powerfully captured this conflict: “We are being divided by our willingness to lie about what we see.” She writes further, “’Is a transgender woman a real woman?’, is not a question of science, is not a question of kindness, or inclusion, it’s a question of religious purity.  If you don’t believe it, you are blown to the chaff floor of unbelief.  You will be excluded from the fold.  It is a key doctrine question of the progressive left.”

Transgressing the narrative increasingly risks consequences. Most of us, comfortably obscure as we are, do not care a wit about the prospect of being “cancelled” or otherwise scolded on social media. No skin off my nose for thirty days of Facebook jail, or so we think, until a Karen outs our cultural transgression to corporate HR. Very real people are facing very real consequences for choosing, and, more importantly, expressing truth over the narrative.

Conditions that require mendacity as a requisite for success or prosperity are called corruption. To be fully woke, that is, to fully embrace the increasingly anti-Christian progressive world view and its attendant narratives, is to embrace corruption. To embrace corruption is to live in a state of sinful transgression of the ninth commandment. This is not a place any faithful Christian should dwell, even briefly, yet many are allowing themselves to be bent, even if in small ways, to the corruption of the narrative.
For most of my life as a Christian, which began in 1973, the culture around me was content to ignore me and even tolerate my evangelistic impulses. Rarely have I ever moved a conversation into spiritual territory and had someone respond in open hostility. Those days are coming to a rapid close, I believe.

A few years ago, the city of Charlottesville saw its anti-panhandling ordinances fail a First Amendment legal challenge. The result, then, was to render panhandling legal on public property, such as roadsides and medians. In an effort to raise money for my Honduran mission trips, I began panhandling. I took with me a yard sign to put in the ground that read “God is Love.” In addition to raising enough money to cover my trip (I averaged $40 an hour), I came to love the small conversations I had with motorists. When asked, “Why are you out here?” I loved to respond, “I’m trusting the Lord to get me to Honduras one open window at a time.”
Some people yelled and cursed at me, and one even spat at me after gesturing me to his car, but I chalked that up to garden-variety anti-panhandling sentiment. I had one encounter, however, that I think is diagnostic of the demands of the narrative.

My chosen spot was in the median at a major intersection. One afternoon I saw the traffic behind me had stopped, even though the light was green. One car had stopped, and the driver had gotten out of the car, taken my God Is Love sign out of the ground, and put it into his car. He then came back to the median and walked up to me and began screaming at me about how I was not allowed to preach my messages in public. I thought he was going to physically assault me, and I was trying to decide how much abuse I was willing to take before defending myself. Ultimately, he finished his rant, walked back to his car, and drove off.
But I want you to think about this: how deep must someone’s hatred of Christ be, and how much had he felt empowered by his beliefs, his culture, his narrative, that he felt free to literally stop traffic, get out of his car and excoriate me in public?  I submit there is something more than just animosity at work here; this man felt not only self-righteous but entitled to act out that self-righteousness with a belligerence that bordered on violence.

In the past year we have seen this belligerence play out in riots across the country in which enraged mobs of the hyper-privileged destroyed property, firebombed police stations and courthouses, and assaulted and even murdered those who stood against them. The narrative declared their angst legitimate, the result of oppressive “systems” no one can actually elucidate, and stood by and let the rule of law erode in a flood of lies.

What we saw play out in cities across America was nothing less than the dawn of a new age of corruption.
If the government, local, state, or otherwise, is willing to, at best, write off violence in the streets, or, at worst, celebrate, even encourage it, to whom would I turn if my employer turns the entitled belligerence of the narrative on me for misgendering a coworker, refusing to wear a rainbow pin during Pride Month, or for speaking the truth of Christ in a cube farm? The answer, in short, is: no one in authority, for every brick in the palace of the world is stacked against me.

As Jesus would say, the time is coming, and now is, when non-Christians will no longer view us with bemused indifference. To transgress the narrative is to become a thought criminal, a dissident, an “other.” More and more of us will be faced with the question: Will I participate in the corruption in order to protect my livelihood, my social standing, or my education? Am I willing to make a stand and count the cost? Given that the way of the Cross ends at Golgotha, am I truly willing to take up my cross and follow Christ to the Place of the Skull, even if only socially, professionally, or economically?

Peter, already having been arrested for preaching the Gospel, continued to preach in the face of increasing persecution. When threatened further, he boldly declared, “We must obey God rather than man.” Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 7:23, “You were bought with a price, do not become slaves of men.”
Revelation 12:11 reminds us that we will overcome the accuser, the author of the narrative and its corruption, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. The way of the Cross is the road of conflict with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Without that conflict there can be no testimony, and without testimony there is no triumph.
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To reprise Edie Wyatt, “We are being divided by our willingness to lie about what we see.” The sheep who follow their shepherd’s voice of truth are already being separated from goats who chase corruption’s rewards. The time is coming, and now is, to make the choice, to take the stand, to count the cost.

Like so many of the enemy’s schemes, Theory is complicated and confusing and may appear, to the undiscerning, as useful, or even benign. The culture touts its heart as seeking progress, and who would oppose that? To excuse oneself from the groupthink is to be labeled racist, hateful, homophobic, evil, a NAZI, and, insult of insults, intolerant. Well, golly, the Twitter Mob calling me names surely must be a sign that I have somehow mis-thought my way out of the will of God, right? So many Christians believe they can somehow thread the needle by “adapting, rather than adopting” Theory in order to become more hip, helpful and relevant in ministry. As I have written here, the Bible is completely sufficient for diagnosing what ails you, your family, your culture, and the rest of the world. The scriptures are also completely sufficient for showing us how we must vigorously defend Christian orthodoxy by rejecting Critical Theory. Therefore, I offer a dozen reasons why Christians should reject Critical Theory and all that it asserts:

1.Theory holds a Marxian anthropology that man is solely the product of socio-political forces, and that his nature is fungible. As such, man’s only purpose and value come from the role played and/or value added to the collective socio-political enterprise. Genesis 1:27 plainly states that man, both male and female, are created in the image and likeness of God. This, in contrast to Marxian thought, imbues man with intrinsic value, purpose, and potential.

2.Theory holds that all of life exists solely in conflict between the oppressed and the oppressor. The oppressed are ever and always the hapless and powerless victims of oppression. All inequities and negative consequences in life must, then, necessarily become the result of oppression. Thus, Theory rejects the individual man and his power to exercise free will and be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 

3.By rejecting the individual and his will to act independently, Theory rejects personal accountability and, ultimately, sin. If man is nothing more than a pawn to be formed by sociopolitical forces and then, as he lives, is either (or both) oppressed or oppressor because of some nebulous “system,” then he can never be held responsible. Romans 6:23 stands at odds with Theory: the wages of sin is death. Yes, one may, in fact, be suffering from oppression (just ask a Chinese Christian), but one remains accountable to the Lord in all things at all times.

4.Theory not only rejects the biblical concept of sin, but it also embraces the indulgence of the flesh as one of life’s most noble pursuits, and a key to expressing one’s identity. the highest,
most noble pursuit in life. To take just one example, to Theorists (even though they outright reject the concept of sin or the existence of God), merely holding the private belief that homosexual behavior is sinful is to participate in a system of oppression. The Apostle Paul explicitly teaches, in Romans 1, that such behavior results from a mind darkened by sin. As such, then, such behavior must be challenged as intrinsically sinful. God’s word is truth; culture’s word is false.

5.Theory rejects objective reality. To refuse to acknowledge that Caitlyn Jenner is a woman is to participate in transphobic oppression. The Christian is bound to an eternal allegiance to the truth, both as revealed in special revelation (i.e., Genesis 1:27--male and female He created them) and in general revelation (i.e. if one were to clone Caitlyn Jenner, the clone would grow up an identical twin of Bruce Jenner). More explanation of Theory’s extensive rejection of “objective reality” can be found here.

6.Theory proclaims that all inequity flows from “systemic oppression.” Critical Race Theory has systemic racism. Feminist Theory has systemic misogyny. Trans Theory has systemic transphobia. Queer Theory has systemic homophobia. Disability Theory (no, I am not making this one up) has systemic ableism, and on and on it goes. Theory holds that oppressive systems cannot be corrected or made just, but that they must be overturned. Thus, Theory becomes a sort of zero-tolerance socio-political wrecking ball whose goals are perpetually shifting. In Matthew chapter seven Jesus tells a parable about the folly and destruction wrought by building one’s house upon a foundation of shifting sand. The only way mankind can live out Micah 6:8— He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God—and achieve a just society, is to root ourselves in the eternal truth of God.

7.Theory, having run Marxism through a post-modern filter—most importantly Foucault and Derrida—rejects the notion of absolute truth. “Ultimately, the Enlightenment that postmodernists rejected is defined by a belief in objective knowledge, universal truth, science (or evidence more broadly) as a method for obtaining objective knowledge, the power of reason, the ability to communicate straightforwardly via language, and universal human nature, and individualism.” (Lindsay & Pluckrose, p.30) To reject absolute truth is to reject Christ: I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

8.By rejecting universal truth, postmodern Theory rejects the universality of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For Postcolonial Theory, Christian missionary endeavors are seen not as positive, but as oppressively attempting to colonize a marginalized group. Critical Race Theory sees Christianity as oppressive, Eurocentric whiteness. Revelation 7:9 clearly is intended to demonstrate to result of the Church living out the Great Commission of Matthew 28.
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9.As Theory rejects science (and the scientific method) it rejects the wisdom and glory of God in creation. When you get right down to it, every bit of discovery in science or innovation in engineering is nothing more than bringing to light what the Lord has already designed into the created order and spoken into existence. The rejection of the scientific method is made glaringly evident by Robin DiAngelo (author of White Fragility) in her PhD dissertation, in which she simply makes assertion after assertion without laying any evidentiary basis. (As an aside, it is worth noting that the totality of DiAngelo’s “research” is a pair of four-hour guided discussions. To label a dissertation that literally took longer to type than it did to research lazy is to be quite generous. For a jury to reward such slovenly work—it’s worth clicking the link just to see the egregious misspelling in the opening sentence—is shameful.)

10.For Theory, as postmodern, to reject reason is to reject the divinely established method for establishing all knowledge. The Old Testament contains 613 laws, many of which are stated apodictically, that is: if this, then that. Since it is not remotely possible that a mere 613 laws could prescribe the entire breadth of human activity, it follows then that (oh, look, I am oppressing you by using reason…) man must have both the capacity to and the process for applying the laws to situations beyond their explicit content. That is the application of reason, which is, coincidentally, fundamental to Christian witness (i.e. Acts 17:2 and 18:19).

11.Theory is not corrective but rather punitive. As Ibram X. Kendi writes in How to Be an Antiracist, “The only remedy for past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy for present discrimination is future discrimination.” Thus, in the world of Theory, there is no redemption, no forgiveness, no possibility for reconciliatory repair of broken relationships. Rather there is only the goal of turning the tables in order to oppress the oppressor. The scriptures clearly teach the opposite: do not repay evil for evil (Romans 12:17) and Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse (Romans 12:14).

12.Critical Theory, no matter what form it takes, is nothing more than a lost and sinful world asserting its self-righteousness against the word, will and wisdom of God. Kendi asserts that if one does not subscribe to his program of antiracism that one is a racist; there is no such thing as “not racist.” Please tell us, sir, by what authority to you make such a claim? DiAngelo tells us that if we refuse to embrace her program for racialized self-loathing that we are making a racist power play. Please, ma’am, may we see your apostolic anointing credentials? Do you not know, have you not heard: All of us have become like one who is unclean, all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away? (Isaiah 64:6)

Once upon a time a kindly old farmer stepped out of his house as the first snows of winter began to fall. Looking down he spied a snake shivering with cold. Moved by compassion, the farmer gathered up the snake and took it into his home. All winter long the farmer cared tenderly for the snake, feeding and keeping it in a warm spot by the fire. And it came to pass that the warmth of spring returned, and the farmer opened the door to let the snake return to the wild. As it passed by the farmer the snake struck out and sunk its venomous fangs deeply into the farmer’s flesh. Mortally wounded by the bite, the farmer was incredulous, and cried out to the snake, “I took you in when you were in danger of dying. All winter long I have fed you and cared for you. How could you repay my kindness by striking me?”
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The snake, pausing only a moment, replied, “I am a venous creature. It is my nature to kill with my poison. How do you not know this?” As the farmer lay dying, the snake slithered off into the forest.
Brothers and sisters, shepherds, and teachers of Israel, beware the serpent of Critical Theory. Do not be deceived that you, wiser among men, might domesticate this deadly viper. It has no place in the house of God. 

The syncretism of non-Christian ideas, philosophies and practices is certainly not new. In fact, the New Testament reveals that this problem arose almost immediately in issues such as the Judaizers and the influence of Greco-Roman pagan ideas and worship practices. All heretical movements over the centuries began this way. In the post-Enlightenment era this led to the birth of the Unitarian-Universalist movement, which, in turn, turned the great universities of England, such as Cambridge and Oxford, away from the truth of the Gospel. From there its poison spread to the American Ivy League divinity schools, with the result that the Gospel has not been preached or taught faithfully in an Ivy for over one hundred and fifty years.

Liberation theology was the syncretism of Marxism and Post-Colonialism into Christianity, with the result that churches became vehicles for anti-Christian Marxism. Liberation theology was used as a very effective tool of deception in the Cuban revolution. Many people, who would not have otherwise joined Castro and Guevarra in their pursuits, went along because they were promised that faith would play a renewed role in the new Cuba. One of those people was the father of Alberto Salazar, America’s greatest marathon runner. However, once the dust had settled and the bodies were buried, the truth was revealed to Alberto’s father. He was an architect, and when he presented Fidel with his design for a beautiful new national cathedral, Castro said, “There is no room for your God in the revolution.”

Today the church in America is ravenously gobbling up Marxian, post-modern ideas as if they were manna from heaven. Post-colonialism, gender theory, feminist theory, critical race theory, queer theory and others are not just infiltrating churches, seminaries and Christian universities, but they are actively pursued by Christians who, having abandoned sola scriptura, have developed an appetite for this philosophical pig slop. If we were to assemble a list of all of the people who contributed to these philosophies, from Darwin and Marx, through Horkheimer, Marcuse, Derrida and Foucault, all the way up to now, with Crenshaw, Kendi and DiAngelo, we would see that, to a person, not a single one sought first the Kingdom of God. How then have we come to exalt these people and their ideas to a place of moral supremacy?

Many Christians argue, “But we can use these ideas as useful tools in understanding our world and society.” To that I quote the great R.C. Sproul: “What’s wrong with you people!” I will tell you what’s wrong with these people, brother Sproul, sola scriptura is no longer sufficient for the new millennium. It’s not cool. It’s not hip. Sola scriptura is not an Instagram influencer. The biblical world view is just so “OK Boomer.” When the Bible says, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Pet 3:9), these Christians say, “We need to let the world define what is evil and what is good.” The truth of that is seen clearly when Christians embrace principles of retribution as morally good. Consider the following quote from Ibram X. Kendi:
“The only remedy for racist discrimination is anti-racist discrimination. The only remedy for past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy for present discrimination is future discrimination.”

If discrimination is evil (spoiler: it is), then retributive discrimination is also evil. Held up to the lens of even one verse of scripture Kendi’s words are shown to be wicked. And yet he and others like him are now celebrated—by Christians who should know better—across the country in churches, schools, and universities and, perhaps most tragically, seminaries. What the Unitarian-Universalists did to the Ivies, the Critical Race Theorists will do to dozens of modern institutions. When men turn away from the Bible and look toward the world’s Good Idea Fairies, the result is never an improvement. The telos of syncretism is always complete takeover. The camel’s nose is already in the tent, and it won’t be long until he and his flea-bitten buddies drive out the original occupants.

The one and only remedy for any spiritual ailment is the word, will and wisdom of God. He and his perfect revelation are always and ever not just sufficient but overflowing in abundance of grace and truth and life. Make no mistake, we are at war with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Satan’s schemes so often masquerade as good, useful ideas, but they are spiritual poison, nonetheless. Consider that Marxist/Communist/Socialist governments murdered somewhere between one hundred twenty and two hundred million of their own citizens in the twentieth century. That self-inflicted death toll is estimated to be greater than all the casualties of all the wars in the history of the earth. And yet ideas born from Marx and Engels are the warp and weft of all critical theories.

Let me encourage you, brothers, to stand firm and steadfast under the banner sola scriptura! God’s surpassing greatness is manifested in the gratia and fides that brought us into the Kingdom of God and bind us together in the Holy Spirit. That self-same fides and gratia will, if we humbly seek first His will and Kingdom, empower us to be strong and courageous spiritual warriors, no matter what comes our way on the battlefield of life and faith. Let us lift our banners high, so the guardians on the ramparts of the Gates of Hell can read them from miles away.

SOLA FIDES!                         SOLA GRATIA!                        SOLA SCRIPTURA!                  SOLA DEO GLORIA!

​This essay by Philosophy professor, Dr. Kelley L. Ross, explores some of the ideas suggested by J.K. Rowling in her Harry Potter series.  Since scripture is very clear that the follower of Jesus must have nothing to do with witchcraft, and because of the current rise of the occult and lack of discernment that is natural in children, I do not recommend Christ-centered families have their children read the Harry Potter books.  However, for those who wish to study popular culture and hold it up to the light of God’s Word, these books provide good material:  

As the story has developed, we know that there is a conspiracy on behalf of Lord Voldemort; we know that some people are definitely in it (the "Death Eaters"); we know that some people are definitely against it (the Order of the Phoenix); and we don't know, for certain, about many other people. As Order of the Phoenix begins, the Government, in the person of the Minister of Magic, denies that there is a conspiracy or that Voldemort is a threat (or even exists). The Government is therefore actively trying to obstruct and discredit the people who are alive to the threat and who have called for action against it, with the identities of many of the Death Eaters in hand. The Government thus functions as an effective ally of Voldemort, intentionally or not, believing and corrupted by known Death Eaters.

Once upon a time, there was a situation much like this in Britain and America. Agents of a mass murderer…

​The topic of religious freedom is hotly contested these days, showing up in Supreme Court debates, state laws, and executive orders.  Some church leaders, comparing the church in America with the church in China, are drawing the conclusion that the growth of Christianity in China is happening because of persecution, while religious freedom in America, they say, has made the Church weak.  Although this idea does contain a grain of truth, it demonstrates a misunderstanding of God's Word and of Chinese and American history. 
 
Francis Chan, for example, recently said:
When you look at the places where there is religious freedom and you compare those places to where there is not religious freedom, what have we done with the freedom? It’s just weakened the Church.

Francis Chan did qualify his remark, saying that he does not wish for the U.S. to lose its religious freedom, but his thoughts echoed a misunderstanding that many believers have repeated in recent years.  Here's why they are mistaken:

God's Word
Scripture is certainly clear that God does use persecution and suffering for our good (Matthew 5:10-12, Acts 5:41).  But nowhere in scripture are God-followers found longing for more restrictions on their freedom to follow God.  A possible exception can be found in 1 Samuel 8, where Israel longs to be ruled over by a worldly king—and this desire is condemned by God, not applauded.  1 Timothy 2:2 tells us to pray “for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”  Our prayer is to be able to live out our godly lifestyle without interference from the government.

So it confuses me when I hear Christians express the idea that we might be better off with more persecution.  Christ's followers are called to leadership, not passive victimhood.  Before Jesus ascended, leaving his Holy Spirit to guide and empower, he made it clear that he has been given all authority, not only over Heaven, but over the whole earth, and he commanded The Church to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything he, Jesus, had commanded.  This commission was not a one-off thought, dropped by Jesus as a nearly forgotten postscript--it was the culmination of history to that point, a working out of Christ's mission of redemption, and the fulfillment of prophesy.   Genesis 12, for example, declares that the seed of Abraham would become a blessing to all peoples on earth.

In his command to disciple and teach the nations, Jesus left room for discipling, baptizing, and teaching even as a persecuted minority, and we are not to be surprised when the world reacts harshly to us (Matt 10:22-25), but persecution and lack of religious freedom were not to be the goal.  On the contrary, The Church, a royal priesthood and holy nation (1 Peter 2:9), was to be blessed by God and be a blessing (Gen 12), making disciples of nations and transforming those societies to serve their Lord Jesus.  We’re not left with a picture of a Church dependent on abuse to keep it strong.

Poor treatment of God’s People in a society would not be the result of successful implementation of Christ’s Great Commission in that society.

American History
To reference pop culture, Bono once shared that, as an Irishman, he had "always believed that America is not just a country, it's an idea, it's a dream that belongs to the whole world."  God brought together the "idea" of America with the Pilgrim and Puritan Founders who sacrificed deeply to build a place for religious freedom. This American idea was then propelled and shepherded by God, and many brave men have given their lives to protect this "dream that belongs to the whole world."

As Christians, the best way to view this history is with an attitude of gratefulness and a resolve to defend the historically unique Christian freedoms we enjoy in the United States.  Tragically, I find that the history of the unique Christian freedoms in America are taken for granted and undervalued by today's church.
 
The strength of America’s Christianity was built by God out of the Great Awakenings, the prayer movements, through the work of pastors, and through the multi-generational discipleship of Christian families bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4).

The greatest slide into weakness by the American church has come not through religious freedom, but quite the opposite.  The massive pressure on families to have their children educated in Secular Humanist schools has resulted in an unsustainable position for the church, with three out of four children from Christian families leaving the faith.

Chinese History
Pointing to persecution as the reason for a strong Chinese church is like pointing to Communism as the reason for China's strong economic growth, when, in fact, Communism created poverty and even starvation in the days of the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward.  China's rapid economic development began when its government embraced a form of capitalism in its economic policy.  The Chinese economy blossomed in spite of, not because of Communism.

The growth of the church in China began with the Holy Spirit empowered, sacrificial work of western and native missionaries.  The Gospel spread in spite of, not because of persecution, and when China relaxed its persecution of Christians during the 1990's, the Church began to explode.  God used the relative increase of religious freedom to allow fast growth and fruitfulness, to the point that in 2003 and 2004, Chinese pastors and church leaders met openly to begin a missionary sending movement from the Chinese church into the Middle East.

The World Today
While we can point to encouraging numbers in China, increased persecution in the Middle East has decimated the Christian population.  Since this is the region of the world with the worst Christian persecution, one would think the Middle East would be a good testing ground to see how well a lack of religious freedom helps strengthen the church.  It turns out that over the past 100 years, the number of Christians has dropped from 20% of the population to about 4% in 2019, and the number is still falling.  God is using the suffering in the Middle East to strengthen the faith of some individual believers, He is receiving glory through the death of Christian martyrs, and He will ultimately use everything for His good purposes, but the big picture shows that right now, God is using the Great Commission and the religious freedom it produces as His main tool to grow and strengthen the worldwide church.
 
Conclusion
The idea that religious freedom is a cause of weakness in the American church may seem plausible on the surface, but this idea misses the main lessons of scripture, history, and a survey of the world today.  God can and does use trials of many kinds to train and strengthen His people (James 1:2-4), and He does sometimes use loss of liberty to spread the gospel, as in Acts 11 and the conversion of Scandinavia, which came as a result of Viking raids of Christian areas and the forced relocation of Christian prisoners.  However, God never stops there.  He wants His people to transform their societies into Christ-following sanctuaries, with freedom to build His church and send out the Gospel as the Irish did after the time of Saint Patrick.

School massacres are becoming almost a regular occurrence in the US.  George Washington's application of biblical principles to society points us to a godly response:
The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.

One of Washington's prayers for the county:
I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection; that he would incline the hearts of the citizens ... to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind, which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of His example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation.

Read more on Washington's answer to school massacres; article by Eddie Hyatt

Have you noticed more and more Christians talking about preparations for an increase in persecution of US Christians?  It does look clear that more persecution is on the horizon.  But then there's a question of how we respond to this threat.  I hear more and more people throwing up their hands and saying, let's prepare to be persecuted. The church grows best in an environment of persecution anyway.  We should pull out of the "culture war" and work on living a quiet life of holy community.  The Great Commission will no longer be pursued through sacrificial proclamation of the gospel but through monkish living and hospitality.

Here's an article that eloquently describes this idea, from the perspective of a "crunchy conservative."  They call it the Benedict Option (or Ben Op to be cool).

I do not agree with the premise of this movement.  God grows His kingdom as he sees fit in all political environments, but historically, the kingdom of God has grown best and most rapidly during eras of peace (watch it grow through history here) and with the efforts of his followers to go out and disciple the nations at great risk to themselves, by people who see themselves as unstoppable because of the presence of King Jesus going with them(Matt 28:18,20b).

So here are my two conclusions: First, the church should not disengage, but instead should work to disciple the nations and teach them to obey everything King Jesus commanded (Matt 28:19-20).  US Christians have far more influence than any other block of Christians in the world.  What a cop-out to go and hide in a corner because of the small pressures we are facing.  Doing so would leave Christians in persecuted countries on their own (look at what the Obama era did to Christianity in the Middle East).  Neglecting our role of cultural impact would be a lousy way to love our US neighbors as well. 

Secondly, US Christians should continue to boldly carry the gospel to our fellow citizens and to the unreached of the world.  In an age where church "missions" has been restricted mostly to relief work, we need to think about how we can use our vast resources and influence to make disciples of all nations and baptize them.  With our technology, relative wealth, and a dominant English language, we have every reason to feel excited about evangelism in our lifetime.  And even if we didn't have those advantages, we would still have the call and empowering of God.

By Chuck Lawless

By Justin Chiarot at Dwaarkill Study Center

Last night my wife ask me a question: “Why do you suppose there is such hatred in the scientific community for those in the ID (Intelligent Design) camp?” I’m sure she was looking for a simple answer, to which there are plenty of decent ones—she, however, did not get one.

The question is well founded, there is a vitriolic hatred spewed in the direction of scientists who support an ID model. It is a palpable hatred, akin to that seen in the ever-partisan and antagonist world of politics. This, however, should come as no surprise, because the hatred is, at its most fundamental level, a political hatred. More specifically, it is a hatred for any worldview that is anti-Marxist.
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There was a point in history, not that long ago, in the second half of the 20th century, where nearly 40% of the world’s population lived under some form of Marxism. Due to its philosophical naivety and devastating legacy of bloodshed and unappalled human suffering, Marxism no longer holds the same position of political power. But regardless of the shares of political power it has lost, Marxism still holds a massive stake in the intellectual framework of the modern world. So pervasive is the Marxist ideology that even most capitalists unknowingly function from within the larger Marxist metanarrative.

To understand Marx properly one must have a grip on...  Read More at Dwaarkill Study Center

The effects of biblical Christianity carried to the world through the vehicle of an influential America and western-led science has done more to alleviate world poverty than any other societal movement in history.  It may be said that medical advances have brought about this great change.  But modern science and higher education itself were largely the gift of God's People to the world.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if China or Russia or Iran had been the ascendant superpower over the past 200 years?  Thankfully, (and I would say this is due to its godly heritage) a powerful America has exercised restraint.  Christian missionaries have built hospitals, schools, and orphanages around the world.  The principles of Human Rights derived directly from the biblical view that man is created in God's image, regardless of "race" or "class", which are man-made divisions.  

Scripture teaches us that humans are corrupt, even the best of us (Rom 3:10,23).  Out of this wisdom, came the notion of limited government and government of, by, and for the people.  Ideas that we now take for granted were world-shaking and rose of the Protestants' attempt to apply scriptural principles when, for the first time in world history, a group of Christians left their home to build a new society and governmental system of their own.

With the restraint of government and the rise of biblical property rights, commerce was able to take on a completely new status and freedom, adding value and spreading prosperity to more and more parts of the earth.

The biggest threats to world peace and prosperity in modern times have come from those who were influenced by non-Christian ideas.  The 20th century's Axis of Evil would never have existed without the debasing, racist teachings of Darwinism.  Stalin and the Khmer Rouge would be nothing without the unbiblical philosophies of Karl Marx.  In more recent times, we have seen the ways and teachings of Mohammad clearly reflected in the atrocities of some of his most orthodox followers, who try to apply his examples of jihad, imperial expansion, and human-trafficking in the modern world.

The world has been blessed over the past 200 to have America rise to the status of superpower.  The ONLY reason this is a blessing, not a curse, is the impact and imprint of God on the nation's founding and culture.  Americans should agree with these statements with humility.  There is nothing in the genetics, geography, or character of the country that would prevent God from moving on to a new vehicle if the nation forsakes him.  The decline of world poverty and the rise of health, freedom, and education over the past 200 years are easily overlooked while we focus on the day-to-day negative headlines.  No matter what happens next, the world owes an enduring debt of gratitude, not to Americans, western scientists, or medical researchers, but to the God, whose Word gave rise to the good stuff of recent history.  

​      In recent years, conservative pastors have avoided controversial topics including anything regarding economics, sexuality, and government.  Many church leaders have taken the position that the church should focus only on topics of piety—politics is too "worldly." "Don't polish the brass on a sinking ship."  As a result, many Christian young people have never been introduced to a Christian worldview.  The young believer's entire worldview training is derived from American pop culture, which looks to the Left for answers.  But the Left is ill-equipped to handle the problems we face today.

      All of that ugliness was a reflection of Trump's non-Christian, liberal, Hollywood-type lifestyle, which he has led most of his life.  They are marching against themselves.
        It is very unlikely that the Left will be able to provide successful solutions to our most important societal problems.  Christians, however, are well-equipped to move forward with biblical wisdom, if they are willing to apply biblical principles to all areas of life.  Jesus commanded his followers to "love one another" (John 13:34).  Loving one another addresses issues of personal spiritual growth, acts of mercy, and it also includes a wise, protective, fatherly role that looks to ensure a safe, free environment, where God's people can shine and thrive.  That motivation should propel Christians out into the "dirty" world of practical sociology and statecraft, taking the wisdom of scripture with them.
      Jesus also commanded his people to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matt 28:19-20).  Along with the foundational message of salvation, Christ is calling his disciples to teach his ways and the commands of scripture to all nations.  God's wisdom for life is a gift and blessing to the nations, and to hold it back, under the guise of trying not to offend, would be the opposite of compassion.  The more often God-fearing people fail to take their teaching role seriously, the more evil men and worldly fools will step forward to twist and misapply the principles of God’s Word.