Biblical Scholarship

Religion, Politics & Economics

The Perry-Romney feud over religion and conservative vs. pseudo-conservative idealogy are paper tigers. The next President will be elected by people who vote with their stomachs. All other issues pale in comparison to a failing economy with a 9%+ unemployment rate. Baptist, Catholic, Mormon or Athiest; a bona fide candidate better have a credible plan to restore America's  economy.

There are a few hot issues that relate directly to the economy, like immigration policy, that will become important but only as they are directly tied  to the economic recovery. Unfortunately, the only republican presidential candidate who is offering detailed tangible programs is Herman Cain and that might be the undoing of this unlikely frontrunner.

In a political campaign the best policy is to stick with rhetoric and avoid details; but, in 2012 this strategy could backfire. Unlike Ross Perot and Mike Huccaby, who both went out on a limb by having a viable plan and were rejected, Herman Cain might be able to get away with proposing specific untested solutions. Only time will tell.

The last four elections have been filled with controversy and disappointment: Al Gore's narrow loss in 2000; George W. Bush's sudden fall from popularity immediately follow his re-election in 2004, President Obama's failure to do almost everything that he promised after his huge victory in 2008 and the republican sweep in 2010 which was immediately followed by bipartisan gridlock. These were all hotly contested, rhetoric filled elections; yet, none seem to have brought us closer to a solution. In light of these disappointments, could it be that Cain will actually be rewarded for offering more than rhetoric?

Yet, radical reform in the federal tax code has never been good political strategy. The seas are littered with shipwrecks of campaigns past. Just three years ago American voters rejected Governor Huckabee's "fair tax" plan. Already the Huffington Post has gone on record that Cain's plan favors the rich and powerful and is unfair and in last night's debate, the other republican candidates ripped "999" apart time and again.

President Obama has put forth a jobs plan but has once again failed to explain it in terms that I can understand. It seems that the people I trust are saying that it is simply another multi-billion dollar stimulus plan. Although I realize that it would be political suicide, I actually wish that a challenger from the President's own party would step forth and offer a plan. When did politicians start caring more about their political party than for the country?

I am not ready to say that "999" is the only hope for America but it is the only plan that has been offered for me to consider. I am determined to get past the rhetoric and see if it is a beneficial component of a greater solution. Running for office should be about specifics. Bring on the charts, graphs and statistics. I am ready to deal with realities and not rely on more failed promises from handsome gentlemen and ladies with expensive suits and good debate skills. What about you?

 

 

The Forbidden Topic

Last Sunday my Pastor spoke on the forbidden topic, SEX, from the Song of Solomon. In his sermon he mentioned that the church has always been suspect of anything that gives pleasure and he is right.

Christianity was born and raised within Judaism. It was not until 84 AD that the Roman Governor, Pliny, identified Christianity as other than another of the numerous Judiastic sects. The Jews were ascetic legalists of the first order. The scribes of Jesus day and before had authored a commentary on the Law which turned a set of common sense laws into a complex and burdensome nightmare. Imagine having to keep up with the number of steps you take on the Sabbath.

As Christianity was finally breaking free of it Hebrew bonds, along came the monastic movement. This movement was a reaction to the legalization of Christianity by Constintine in 313 AD.  His unanticipated decision was preceded by 63 years of the worst Roman persecution ever. In 250 AD, the Emperor Decius unleashed the furor of the Empire against Christians. His reign of terror was followed by a more terrible period of persecution under Diocletian. Both were conducting cultural revolution, believeing that Christianity must be eliminated so Romans could return to their pagan gods, thus appeasing their anger.

The horror of that period was  unimaginable. Christians were arrested, sold as slaves, tortured, maimed and died as fodder for the gladiators and beasts in the arena. To be a Christian meant hardship and committment under the worst possible cirecumstances. Then like lightning it all ended, the skies cleared and being a Christian was routine.

Out of this dramatic change came the veneration of saints, confession and penance and the seeds of the monastic movement. The early monastics were hermits and vagabonds, mostly in the Eastern Empire. They were reactionaries, pure an simple. They chose to flee from this new life of ease, thus returning to hardship, which they believed necessary to the purification of the soul. For them pleasure was a tool of Satan; so, they mortified and ignored the physical body. Bathing, washing clothes, soft beds and all other comforts were abandoned.

These attitudes became an integral part of the formalized monastic movement with celibacy. Shortly thereafter Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, and other ascetic pastors of his day make SEX within marriage something to be avoided, not enjoyed. That attitude and mindset was echoed by various Reformation groups, especially the Puritans, who settled New England.

Over the last century that attitude has been challenged. Most Christian churches have avowed Ambrose's ideas and gradually adopted a gentler and kinder attitude towards sex withing marriage. Church History is littered with beliefs and teachings not grounded in Biblical truth. The Refermation will not really be over until all of these issues are resolved.

   

The Value of Systematic Bible Study

If you knew that by attending a systematic Bible study your life would be tremendously enriched, your spirit encouraged and your mind stimulated, would you attend? The question is rhetorical and the answer is obviously, YES! So, why do so few people ever take the plunge? Let me answer a few of the questions that I hear.

Q: I hear the Bible on Sunday morning; isn't that enough?

A: The Bible is over one thousand five hundred pages long. It contains 46 separate Books written by over 40 people over a span of 1500 years. In 20 years of Sunday morning sermons one will only hear about 10% of the overall content. In addition, in most churches Sunday morning is for sermons, not for systematic study. Sermons are necessary for teaching life-principles but not very effective for learning the Bible.

Q: The Bible was written thousands of years ago, how can it speak to me where I am today?

A: Systematic Bible study is designed to extract the "then and there" from scripture so that we can discover the "here and now". The lessons taught in the Bible are timeless. Some, like Paul's admonition to married couples from Ephesians chapter 5, need not be contemporarized. Others like his teaching in Romans and I Corinthians on buying and eating animals sacrificed to pagan idols requires modernization. Nonetheless, the lessons learned from the Bible are practical, applicable, helpful and enlightening.

Q: Isn't the Bible is boring and uninteresting?

A: The Bible is filled with mystery, intrigue, romance and human drama. It is anything but boring. Take the life of David; a poor shepherd boy, unnoticed by his family, who rises to fame by defeating an enemy champion but is envied and despised by the ruling monarch. He marries and looses a woman who does not love him, is forced to live in caves like a hunted animal. One of his sons murders his half-brother because he had raped his sister; that son later rebels and steals the kingdom from his father. Later in life, he sees and falls in love with a beautiful woman who is already married and has her husband killed so he can have her. They have son who becomes an even greater king than his father. Sounds like "The Sopranos", doesn't it? Boring? NOT!

Q: Isn't the Bible too complicated to really understand?

A: God is complex; there are things about Him that we can never understand but most of the Bible is easily understood. The scriptures were written by God to you. Would he write to you in a mysterious code that cannot be understood. People make the Bible complicated because they refuse to take it literally. There are those who want to make it code that only they can decipher. Children actually understand the Bible best. They take it at face value and do not overcomplicated the message. The problem with the Bible is not with what we don't understand but how we respond to that which we do understand. A good Bible teacher, one who has spent his or her life learning from God, can make the Bible as simple as A,B,C.

The bottom line is that there is immeasurable benefit in being part of a systematic Bible study. Attending will require some sort of sacrifice; everything of value does. It will be worth the sacrifice because your outlook on life will improve, your relationships with others will be enriched and your faith will be encouraged!

For more information on systematic Bible study opportunities visit www.thecommunitychurch.org 

Armstrong and Dawson; Clinging to an old Myth

The Wall Street Journal article entitled "Man vs. God" (Sept. 12, 2009) begins with a poorly phrased question, "Where does evolution leave God?" It continues with the ramblings of an amature theologian, Karen Armstrong and a blindly-biased evolutionist, Richard Dawkins. Their opinions are clearly motivated by the assumption that Darwinism is still a reasonable assertion in an ever increasing assembly of factual science that proves it is not.

As I remember, Dawkins starred as himself in the Hollywood film, "Expelled". In that film, which scientifically questions the process of Darwinian evolution, Dawkins looked embattled and confused under skillful cross-examination. He could not bring himself to actually say that the Darwinian process was a logical explanation for the existence of modern mankind; so, he wandered of into the realm of Aliens who may have seeded life throughout the universe. That is actually a pretty good response since Darwinisim is more science fiction than science.

Whether the Wall Street Journal knows it or not, Darwinism is dead. It is simply bad science and worse philosophy. The truth is that great scientific intellects have offered indisputable evidence that Darwinian evolution simply can't work because it is self-contradictory. It violates the premise of natural selection, the only scientific principal upon which it is based. Even though the eye would have been a vast improvement to the evolutionary transition of animal life, it's gradual evolution would have actually been detrimental to specific organism's for the millions of years that it took to become useful.    

Armstrong on the other hand take the pragmatic approach; reminding us of the logical and humanistic theology of Augustine who wrote that if a Biblical text refuted reputable science, it must be interpreted allegorically. The problem is that Augustine was not talking about the first three chapters of Genesis, which he always interpreted as completely literal. In his great work "On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis", he states the following: "matter... was made from absolutely nothing"; "the light made by God is immutable"; "man was created as an image of the Trinity".

The more vivid reason that Augustine's statement does not apply in this case is that Darwinian evolution is no longer "reputable science". It is, in fact, the most hotly contested scientific theory of all ages; not only by theologians and philosophers, but by objective scientists! The reputable science that Augustine was referring to is that which is real and observable not what is imaginary and disputed. 

The question is, are Richard and Karen defending what they actually know to be true or what they want to believe. It seems to me to be the later. In an effort to escape the reality of personal accountability to a Holy God, Dawkins ask us to embrace scientific fantasy that gets us "off the hook". Belief in Darwinism requires nothing more than faith and he is willing to place his faith in nature rather than in nature's God. Karen, on the other hand, is doing what those who believe but do not know have done for ages; finding a way to defend the Truth from science, falsely so called. Had her complete trust been in what she knows of God rather than what she believes about him, she would not have felt compelled to defend God, His Word or His creative power.

Unlike Richards and Dawkins, I know for certain that God created the heavens and the Earth. It is not a matter of belief, it is certainty beyond a shadow of doubt. Creation as described in the book of Genesis is the only possible explanation for what all of us observe in the laboratory of life each day. The depth of my knowledge requires no contradiction of the rules of probability, no need to manipulate the fossil record and no need to manufacture the missing link. The knowledge that I embrace not only explains creation but the horrible condition of the human race.

Ms. Armstrong is right when she says, "religion is an art form"; but, true Christianity is not. Jesus was very pointed and specific; there is little room for creativity. She is also correct about the abysmal plight of humanity but is so wrong about the cause. God is not asleep; He has not taken a vacation. He exists; He is powerful; He is willing to engage; but, He is also a gentleman. God will not bully his way into anyone's life; He will not insert himself into  life's struggle without being invited; He will not do what His Body, the Church, fails to do. The history of Christianity is replete with men and women like Mother Theresa and Bono who have fought against the plight of humanity.

Because of Christ; hospitals, orphanages, community food banks, soup kitchens and hospices exist throughout the world. Are the world's problems resolvable? Certainly! Will they ever be resolved? That is for Jesus' followers to answer. Will we fully engage hunger, poverty, disease, injustice and despotism or will we sit idly by and allow humanity to plunge deeper into the abyss? 

The question that The Wall Street Journal needs to ask is; "Why do people cling to a hopelessly flawed scientific myth when it is so obvious that God created the heavens and the earth? Generations ago, a great Christian philanthropist, Count Von Zinzendorf, asked two telling questions: What do you have to loose if you embrace the Kingdom of God and there is no eternity? More importantly, what do you have to loose if you turn your back on God and there is an eternity? Those are the questions that each of us must answer for ourselves.

   

17 Loudoun County Public Schools Fail to Meet Standards of Learning (SOL)

Is the Christian Right the Real Enemy?

Over the past three decades, the liberals have identified the Christian right as their enemy and in may ways they are correct. Bible believing Christians oppose everything that the liberals support: keeping prayer out of our public schools, abortion on demand, gay marriage, embryonic stem cell research, freedom for the pornographers, illegal immigration, big intrusive government (socialism) and high taxes. 

It is easy to blame everything that is bad on the Christians because we are an easy target,  as Nero discovered nearly two thousand years ago. The Romans knew who we were and so do the 21st century liberals. It worked for Nero and it is working now.

Some have said that a culture war is coming but let me tell you that it is taking place right now. Unfortunately, the Christian right is loosing. The liberal agenda has captured many of our socially conservative brothers and sisters in the  Roman Catholic Church and in the African American Baptist and Pentacostal denominations. The age old plan, divide and conquer, has worked for the liberals.

So, the liberals win, right? WRONG! The next enemy that the liberals face is much more effcient, focused, radical and determined than the Christian right. The social agenda of this enemy bears similarities to that of Christian right but it goes way beyond the meager moral code we seek to embrace. It will require complete religious and cultural adherence to the Will of Allah. That is correct; unless the Christian right and the liberals in America find common ground for compromise, we will all ultimately become an Islamic culture.

The figures say that it is inevitable. Within 25 years our three greatest European allies; England, France and Germany, who have a combined fertilization rate of 1.4, .8 less than is required for cultural stabilization, will be predominantly  Muslim.The fertilization rate for cultural Americans is only 2.0, still below that which is required to remain a majority. On the other hand, the Muslim population in the US has grown from 500,000 to nine million (1700%) in the past 20 years. Since their fertilization rate is much higher, if trends continue, America will be predominently Muslim by 2060. It's just a matter of time!

If you think that the Muslim moral code will change in the next 50 years you are mistaken. It has survived almost in tact for 1400 years. While American Christians and denominations have been moderating their position on divorce, public schools, dress, sexuality and entertainment; Muslims have stood firm. American culture is not infecting them. To their credit, they seem to be immune to the disease that has consumed the entire Western World.

I'll be with Jesus in 2055 but my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be right here in America. The moral code they enjoy may be closer to that of America 50 years ago but they will be living in a Muslim society. Very possibly, they will have been forced to convert to Islam in order to survive; their children will study Islam in "public" schools. Unfortunately, it seems that conservative morality may be more secure than the US Constitution and all that it stands for.

The liberals are going to be forced to decide if Christians are, in fact, the real enemy. Dinesh D'Souza has said that Muslims hate America more for its immorality than for its politics. Rightly said; our morality is deplorable. Therefore, if we want to save our country, the country of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, all Americans who love freedom and opportunity are going to have to come together to revive the family, stabilize the economy and revisit the values that made America the greatest nation on the face of the Earth.  

The Bible and Politics

Those who say that the Bible is not political are deceived. Politics is defined as "public affairs as they relate to the opinions, principles or policiesby which a person orders his participation in the affairs of state." If that is the case almost everything we do or say is political. An old friend of mine, Miles Monroe, says that the Bible is the Constitution for the Kingdom of God. That is certainly true but in a broader context, since the Bible tells us how to order our moral priorities, make decisions and live our lives, it becomes a political handbook as well.

It is very true that the problems and issues that face America today are complex, yet, the Bible offers practical solutions for all of them. You may not like the solutions the Bible offers but they are nonetheless relevant to the 21st Century. Furthermore, the US Constitution is based upon time-tested documents, many of which were created in Biblical principle: the Law of Moses, the Twelve Tables of the Roman Republic, the Saxon Reforms, the Magna Carta, the Constitution of Great Britian, the Mayflower Compact, and many of the State Constitutions written in the formation of our republic. There are some historical revisionists who would question whether the Founding Fathers were even Christians, but unfortunately for them, the documents they wrote speak for themselves!

I have been studying the Bible for more than 40 years and have had the privlege of participating in several denominations and varities of Christian thought, doctrine and ideology. Although I have found subtle differences and distinctives, I feel comfortable that most Christians I have encountered would support the Biblical solutions to our most pressing political issues:

1)   There should be no discrimination or bigotry directed towards homosexuals. They should be treated with Christian love and respect; however, they should not be allowed to marry.

2) Abortion should only be an option in cases of genuine, medically founded threats to the life and health of the mother.

3) Pornography should not be protected under the free speech clause of the first amendment of the US Constitution. This amendment is specifically directed to our right to freely criticise our government and other institutions without fear of reprisal.

4) The protections of liberty included in the constitution were intended for US citizens and legal residents. Enemy combatants are protected by the Geneva Convention.

5)  Human cloning and the use of frozen embryos for medical research and to produce replacement body parts go against the very nature of the Creator God.

I could go on and on but I hope you get the point. The Bible endorses a specific moral code and ties believers to it. That the Archbishop of Kansas has prohibited the current Governor from receiving Communion because she favors abortion is commendable. Christian politicians who ignor or try to explain away Biblical morality should not be permitted to hide behind a political shield. Calling oneself a Christian is a committment to follow what Jesus said and did.  

How Quick Things Change

Like millions of other Boomers, I sat amazed as I watched the swearing in of our new President. It was only 45 years after Dr. Martin Luther King's immortalized "I Have a Dream" speech until we inaugurated an African American to the highest office in the land. I can remember drinking from a water fountain marked "white only" and riding buses on which African Americans were relegated to the back seat and going to all white schools. How quickly things can change!

Unfortunately, the same is true of the moral value system in our country. I remember when the best sex on TV was Ozzie and Harriette sleeping in separate beds and when the worst  of movies were not as bad as the PG movies of today and when the nastiest lyrics in music were"Louie-Louie", which was complete gibberish. The 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s each experienced exponential decline in morality. The problem is that many Americans are actually proud of the liberation that accompanied that decline. If Paul were alive today, he might say to America what he said to the members of the Church in Corinth regarding the gross immorality they permitted  "you are proud when you should be mourning."

I am glad that our God is merciful. The Old Testament is filled with stories of how Israel slipped away into immorality and paganism but God was always there to hear their cry and send a deliverer.  Time and again the nation repented and returned to the spiritual foundation which is given in the Law of Moses and God's favor and blessing was restored.

 Take heart America, we can recoverer! After centuries of rejecting and persecuting Christianity, Rome was converted. They banned infanticide and the gladitorial games. A cruel and immoral culture of death became a loving and caring people. Remember the word of the Lord in II Chronicles 7:14, "if my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land."

Repentance, prayer and cleansing must begin with believers.   

You Missed Something!

Each time I go to shopping this Christmas I chuckle to myself. The store and mall owners think that they have eliminated all links from Christmas to the Christian message; no nativity scenes, no angels, no kings or shepherds. I have news for the owners and managers however; YOU MISSED SOMETHING! Santa Claus (from Saint Nicholas) is thoroughly Christian. He is the embodiment of the Christian virtue of giving to and caring for children.

Nicholas lived in the Greek city of Patara (now Turkey) in the late second century. His Christian parents, who were wealthy, died when he was young. Following the command that Jesus gave to the rich young ruler in Mark 10:21, "go sell what you have and give it to the poor", he began a life of service to God and humanity. 

As a young man, Nicholas was appointed to serve as the Bishop of Myra. There he became famous as a patron and protector of children. His generosity was overwhelming! At times, he would provide the dowry for young girls who were too poor to marry. One story is that he threw a bag of gold coins for a dowry through an open window. The bag landed in a stocking hung by the fire to dry; thus, the tradition of Santa filling the stockings of good boys and girls hung by the fireplace .

During the reign of the bloody Roman Emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD), Nicholas was thrown into prison and tortured to make him recant his faith in Christ. He didn't! In 325 AD, he attended the Council of Nicea with many other Bishops who had suffered the the wrath of Diocletian. That Council adopted the Nicean Creed, the most significant theological statement of that age.

Within a year after his death he was celebrated as a Saint. He is buried under the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari, along the southeast coast of Italy. In America he is remembered through Santa Claus each Christmas.

Passing Debt to the Next Generation

I have been devastated to learn recently how the debt of my generation will affect my children. The decisions that we as a nation make today echo into the future. Isn't it a little shortsighted to pass such grave debt to the next generation? I hope that the new President and Congress will make balancing the federal budget a priority. I am sure that most of you, like me, in would support this principle even if it requires a degree of sacrifice.

Throughout this election season I have been thinking about the great debt that the previous generation left for my generation. They are called the "greatest generation" for defeating Facism in WWII. Certainly, they deserve credit for sacrificing to win that war; it cost nearly a half million American lives. That generation did leave behind a crippling debt, however; not in terms of money but a grave debt nonetheless.

Please allow me to explain. Our newly elected President unashamedly ran on a platform which favors a woman's unconditional right to have an abortion and supports same sex unions. Evidently a vast majority of Americans agreed with him thus demonstrating a 180 degree shift in morality in our nation over the last 40 years. This decline is a direct result of my parent's unconditional surrender to the secularists and humanists who removed prayer and Bible reading from our public schools, leaving my generation's morality to be framed within the vacuum of absolute relativism.

After winning the war in Europe and Asia, the greatest generation came home and slept through the costliest battle ever fought on American soil, that to retain a moral compass in our public schools. After watching Hitler brainwash an entire generation and create the greatest holocaust in human history, they allowed Madeline Murry O'Hara and the US Supreme Court to remove Bible reading and prayer from our schools without firing a shot. Immoral behavior that was completely foreign through the 1950s is now the norm in America and they must accept responsibility. The minutemen of Lexington and Concord must have been shuddering in their graves, wondering why they had paid so great a price for a liberty that was to be so easily squandered.

The result of their unconditional surrender left a debt that my generation will ultimately not be able to pay. The way of life that our Founding Fathers were willing to pledge their fortunes and very lives for is quickly coming to an end. The America that I have known and loved will not survive if she continues to wander the path of moral relativism. It may be trite, but it is true; America can not be great if she is not good.

I came from a secular home; I attended public schools in the 1950's and 60's. The daily Bible reading and prayer in my public school classroom was the moral training that preserved me until I heard the Gospel preached for the first time when I was 14 years old and gave my life to Christ. Our public schools have now produced two generations that did not have the privilege of Biblical and moral training that I enjoyed. The results speak for themselves!

Like Sodom long ago there will come a time when the righteous souls that remain in America will not be enough to hold off the vengeance of the Lord. When God finally removes his hand from America it will become a place of spiritual desolation; but,that does not have to happen! We could take back our public schools; they belong to us. It would be a costly battle. Some of us would lose our jobs, some would lose friends or even the love of family members. If we chose to fight on the battlefield of economics we might loose our homes and material possessions. Our fathers understood the potential cost and decided not to engage. Will we follow in their footsteps or rise up and take back what belongs to us?