Edited version of an article by Tim Wildmon.
"The secular liberals (or progressives, as they call themselves) are pushing their agenda at full tilt across the country. Now they are pushing the idea that males who “self-identify” as females should be able to use the restroom, locker room, or fitting room of their choice. If you have a problem with that, then you are bigot according to the progressive movement. These people, led politically by President Barack Obama and his administration, are basically at war with 1) traditional Americans, 2) the Judeo-Christian value system, 3) common sense, and 4) millennia of history. Progressivism is a worldview fundamentally based on the philosophy of humanism. Humanism is based on atheism or agnosticism. That is to say, there is no God to govern the individual or the community on planet Earth. Or, if there is a God, He has no concern for human affairs. Therefore, it is up to humans to make our own rules for life. And we make those rules up as we go along. ...America, for most of her history, has held to the Judeo-Christian value system to guide our path of understanding and govern our social morals. We used to teach our children love of country, respect for authority, and the Ten Commandments in school, at home, and in church. Not too long ago, we had reverence for the things of God. Today open sacrilege is the norm, especially in popular culture. We think we can make up our own truth instead of submitting to the truth of Scripture. Such fantasy is ultimately a path to destruction, ... If we are to survive as a nation, we must rebuild a society whose values reflect the truths of the one true God. Tim Wildmon, President American Family Association Note: This article first appeared on The Stand. You can view it online here.
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Inviting Your Questions
Unanswered: Smoke, Mirrors and God by JOHN STONESTREET We all have questions about faith. What we need is a place where those questions are welcomed and answered with biblical truth. In his very first BreakPoint commentary, which aired September 2, 1991, Chuck Colson observed that “our culture has stopped asking the big questions about the meaning and purpose of life.” The same is true 25 years later, and at times it can even be true of the church. Feel-good sermons, songs, and activities cannot replace learning the grand narrative of God’s creation and redemption. Too many Christians are ill equipped to wrestle with life’s biggest questions, much less share their faith with others. Recently, I spoke with my friend and Colson Fellow Nancy Fitzgerald, who wrote and teaches the outstanding biblical worldview curriculum Anchorsaway to high school juniors and seniors. She shared a story with me that drives home the point. Anchorsaway hosted a picnic to celebrate the achievements of the students who had spent a semester studying worldview and apologetics. As the students went inside for their last class, parents met with Nancy for a time of sharing about what the students had learned. Nancy related that she spent much time answering students’ questions. Questions like: “How do you know Christianity is not a hoax? What difference does it make to me daily that Jesus died and rose again? Is there any hope for me?” When Nancy then asked the parents how many of them had similar questions, no one responded. In fact, no one moved. “It’s okay to have questions,” Nancy told them. “Honestly, how many of you have similar questions?” Slowly, the hands begin to rise. One mom said, “I didn’t know we could ask questions; I was taught not to.” Another said, “I didn’t know there were answers to such questions. I have thought about that stuff but never knew anyone who could answer them.” As a teacher myself, it saddens me to think that Christians don’t know that it’s perfectly okay to ask hard questions. In fact, it’s critical! What’s more, the church should be the best place to ask those questions. As Nancy told those parents, and I’m excited to tell you, Nancy’s written a new small group study aimed specifically at adults who have the same kinds of questions the teens studied in the Anchorsaway class. This new study is called “Unanswered: Smoke, Mirrors and God,” and provides a way for you to both ask and find biblical answers to the questions we have about God, Jesus, ourselves, and the big questions of life. It’s an excellent adult small group study with an accompanying discussion guide and DVD. Not only will it help you get some honest answers, but you’ll also learn how to be a better responder to those who have questions. It will give you confidence in knowing the truth of your faith. To not take people’s questions seriously is to not take them seriously. We risk leaving the impression that questioning is sinful or that the answers don’t really exist. Neither is true, and “Uanswered” is a perfect way to offer your friends and neighbors in your church and community a safe place to ask the big questions and receive honest answers. NEXT STEPS Inviting Your Questions: Unanswered: Smoke, Mirrors and God Get your copy of "Unanswered: Smoke, Mirrors and God"--a valuable resource for adults who have questions. And learn more about the Anchorsaway program and curriculum by clicking on the links below. Unanswered: Smoke, Mirrors and God: study series website Anchorsaway website LISTEN TO TODAY'S COMMENTARY SUBSCRIBE TO BREAKPOINT DAILY Paul was completely out of step with the culture in his time and Christians today are, or should be, likewise out of step with our majority culture. One follows, is enamored with and seeks the goals of modern culture with its celebrity worship, pleasure and self focus, following after the "wisdom of man," while the other is focused on God, doing things according to His way as revealed in the Bible, is other centred and follows after the "wisdom of God." The differences are vast.
“Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.” Eugene Peterson in “The Message.” The above is a paraphrased modern translation by Peterson of the following written by Paul almost 2000 years ago: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[a] Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[b] 1 Children in the Crosshairs
By Bill Muehlenberg I was at a meeting recently in which a professional expressed concern about how children will be exposed to homosexual propaganda in sex education classes. He was right to be so concerned, but he was far too limited in his understanding about such propaganda. The truth is, every area of school is being used by homosexual activists to push their agenda. Any class will do, and any topic will suffice. They certainly are not restricting their offensive to the obvious classes like sex ed. They will use any and every class to promote their radical agenda. This was made perfectly clear in a very recent piece from the English press. Entitled “‘Gay lessons’ in maths, geography and science,” it spoke about how children are to be “taught about homosexuality in maths, geography and science lessons as part of a Government-backed drive to ‘celebrate the gay community’.” The article begins as follows: “Lesson plans have been drawn up for pupils as young as four, in a scheme funded with a £35,000 grant from an education quango, the Training and Development Agency for Schools. The initiative will be officially launched next month at the start of ‘LGBT History Month’ – an initiative to encourage teaching about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual issues. The lesson plans, spread across the curriculum, will be offered to all schools.” The article continues, “Among the suggestions are: Maths – teaching statistics through census findings about the number of homosexuals in the population, and using gay characters in scenarios for maths problems; Design and technology – encouraging pupils to make symbols linked to the gay rights movement; Science – studying animal species where the male takes a leading role in raising young, such as emperor penguins and sea horses, and staging class discussions on different family structures, including same-sex parents; Geography – examining the transformation of San Francisco’s Castro district in the 1960s from a working-class Irish area to the world’s first ‘gay neighbourhood’, and considering why homosexuals move from the countryside to cities; Languages – using gay characters in role play scenarios, and teaching ‘LGBT vocabulary’. “The lesson plans, written by teachers and backed by the Department for Education, will be available for schools to download from the Schools Out website. For younger children, the plans will suggest using images of same sex couples and also promoting books such as ‘And Tango Makes Three’, which is about two male penguins raising a young chick, inspired by actual events at New York’s Central Park Zoo.” Such homosexual propaganda, aimed at our youngest, most innocent, and most vulnerable school children is not new of course. All over the Western world public school systems have become hotbeds of pro-homosexual indoctrination and propaganda. Please read on -->> From Freedom to Slavery. Are you ready for what is coming?
By Craig Manners 12th May 2016 What happens if the law suddenly calls something good which millions of citizens know is bad? Or tries to make a lie legal? Say for example if a law tried to make people call an apple an orange, or a circle a square? What if common sense was silenced and nonsense normalized? Or stealing made "moral" good and legal? You get the picture: it is not going to go well. Laws teach. They protect. They promote that which they protect. So, what happens when these millions of people refuse to agree with the law and maintain their belief that the behaviour which the law is now promoting is still bad? Will the law have to punish those people? Christians and Jews and many others of different faiths, and no faith, all hold to the truth that marriage is, has always been and can only ever be between a man and a woman. The Bible teaches this. The Bible is the bestselling book the world has ever known. Billions of people around the world believe what the Bible teaches about marriage, human sexuality, and family. More than that, it is common sense is it not? Not to mention biological fact! What will the anti-traditional marriage juggernaut do once they succeed in changing the law of the land to pretend that marriage and gender can now be whatever the vocal, intimidating mob want it to be? ill they next seek to close churches and synagogues as hate groups? Will they classify the Bible as hate literature? They may have to. Will law-abiding, good citizens be confronted by the vocal mob shouting "bigot," "dinosaur," homophobe,' "hater," as they enter or leave church on a Sunday morning? Will prayer come under attack? If the marriage law changes, no Australian will be free to openly say that the changes being imposed on society are sinful, bad, unnatural, unhealthy, damaging to children, damaging to human mental and physical health. No Australians will be able to publicly share these views. Therefore, there will be a new "religion," a branch of "secular humanism," effectively imposed on Australia by the law. To refuse to comply will probably eventually result in punishment by the law. To openly defy this new way of thinking may soon be a very courageous and dangerous thing to do. There is no doubt the society-destroying, Marxist-inspired mardi-gra-ification of the West will not end at marriage either. All the other child confusing, child abusing, physical and mental health destroying, dangerous nonsense will be promoted using public funds, to the detriment of children, childhood, education, health, the economy... Things such as the transgender fad poisoning young minds and bodies. But not just that. If truth has now been abolished, only God can help our nation. It is quite probable that no Australian will be able to openly object to this new "religion" without the threat of jail or fines or black-listing. Anyone who maintains a belief that God created human beings male and female, equal and to be joined together for life in marriage, anyone who holds to the traditional view of human sexuality, will be labelled as hateful bigots, lose jobs, be vilified and hated. Is this what our forefathers fought and died for? The full resources of the State will be available to the secular humanists to subjugate anyone who is religious or opposes their agenda. The anti-religious fervor this will spread will be eagerly fueled by the secular (really they are religiously, zealously, actively anti-God) media, resulting in mass persecution and discrimination of millions of Australian citizens, citizens who uphold our nation's foundational values which have made Australia what it is. Christians will be demonized as the hatred is spread. The rainbow protests may well be picketing Christian schools and charities, as well as churches (the few the mob will not be able to intimidate into bending the knee to their doctrines) and the State resources made available to fund the secular war on Christianity will increase dramatically. The unnatural sex-ed programs targeting Australian children will be even more forcefully imposed on every school, will receive massive funding increases and will possibly even replace reading, writing and math in order of priority in schools. Christian schools will become a major target, viewed as a last frontier. If principals and school boards are not fully informed about these threats, if they are not courageous, wise, smart regarding technology and the infiltration by secular psychological mental "health" programs and "wellness" or "wellbeing" programs, and willing to be Daniels in standing firm for the truth, these schools will soon become like the surrounding secular schools, they will not last very long. Once the marriage law changes, the secular humanists will ratchet up the legal push to remove God, the Bible, and all competing religions (atheism is a belief system or religion) from the public sphere, in their vain attempt to create a secular "utopia." Freedom of religion and speech will be two of the first major casualties. Christians and Jews will be silenced and subjugated. But it will not end there. It never does. “In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." (Martin Niemoller). There is nothing new under the sun. The world has seen tyranny before and will see it again, possibly very soon in Australia. But fear not, they never win in the end. Human freedom is a powerful force and I believe it will prevail although there may be much pain for a while. The final victory has already been secured. Eternity has been engraved on people's hearts. There is more to this life than fighting for selfish things which ultimately do not satisfy. Seek the bigger picture. Think it through. Defend children. Defend true freedom. In the book of Daniel in the Bible, King Darius introduced a law making prayer to God illegal! (Chapter 6) Sounds absurd doesn't it? Surely that could never happen again? Well, in my opinion we are heading in that very direction in our lifetimes. So what can we learn from history in Daniel? We could learn to choose God over man. Learn not to be afraid, not to be cowed into accepting bad laws which go beyond man's God-given authority. Daniel was very blessed throughout this period for continuing to pray to God, to not fear and to choose God not man. King Darius himself was moved by Daniel's example. We Can Impact Our Public Schools
JOHN STONESTREET Should we give up on public education? Is there still some good that Christians can bring to the system? Many Christians have bailed on public schools these days. And watching the news it’s easy to see why. Whether promoting the ideas of the sexual revolution, strange bathroom policies, censoring Christmas from plays, violence, falling test scores or removing the Bible from libraries—I get it. It’s easy to be outraged. But outrage isn’t a strategy. As Warren Cole Smith and I write in our book, “Restoring All Things,” (with special credit to my friend Gabe Lyons), Christians need to ask themselves a few key questions to help us respond to the society around us. First, “What is good in our culture that we can promote, protect, and celebrate?” Second, “What’s missing in our culture that we can creatively contribute?” Third, “What’s evil in our culture that we can stop?” And fourth, “What’s broken in our culture that we can restore?” These are questions we can bring to bear on virtually any area of culture and society. For example, let’s take the first two questions and apply them to public schools. First, what good in our public schools can we promote, protect, and celebrate? To answer that, I turn to Eric Buehrer of Gateways to Better Education, which equips and trains Christian teachers who work in public schools. He points out that our public schools are filled with Christians. Nearly fifty percent of public school teachers attend church and say their faith is very important in their lives. Now I get why many Christians, me included, choose other options for our own kids, and for many reasons. But I’m not talking just about where we choose to send our own kids, which is a family by family decision. I’m talking about how Christians can reach that aspect of society. We should celebrate and support Christians who are in education. After all, the idea of education for all was a Christian one. We should thank God that Christians have such a presence in these schools, and protect those that are there. And of course there are many Christian students in these schools as well. And this leads to the second question: What is missing in our schools that we can creatively contribute? Well for one, an understanding of the academic and religious freedom our students and teachers have. Many Christians don’t know the freedom they have to express their faith, and they don’t know how to do it appropriately. So, often out of fear, they say nothing. So what can we do? We can initiate a campaign to raise awareness of students’ and teachers’ religious freedom. Gateways to Better Education and the Alliance Defending Freedom have created the National Free to Speak Campaign to help you do just that. We have information about it at BreakPoint.org. And then there’s the matter of integrating a biblical worldview into academic subjects—history, social studies, art and music. Students cannot possibly receive a well-rounded education without understanding Christianity’s impact on Western Civilization. There would be no Western civilization without the Bible or Christianity. So Gateways conducts seminar for educators on how they can go about incorporating sound teaching on the role of Christianity into their lesson plans. Why not host them? Your local schools can become better at welcoming religious expression and places where educators teach the contributions of Christianity. Gateways to Better Education can show you how. Come to BreakPoint.org and click on this commentary for more information. Asking what’s good, what’s missing, what evil can be stopped, and what can we restore—this is an approach to cultural renewal that Chuck Colson understood and practiced. And last month when Chuck was honored with the William Wilberforce Award, Emily Colson gave a stunning speech about her dad. To get a copy of the free, downloadable pdf of Emily’s moving tribute to her dad, visit BreakPoint.org/free. NEXT STEPS We Can Impact Our Public Schools: Key Questions, Key Freedoms Listed below are just some of the resources available to help Christians speak into their spheres of influence. That includes, but isn't limited to, the public schools. Check out the links for more details, and be sure to download a copy of Emily Colson's moving tribute to her dad. RESOURCES Gateways to Better Education website National Free to Speak Campaign Gateways to Better Education, Alliance Defending Freedom Tribute to Chuck Colson Emily Colson | Wilberforce Award 2016 Available at the online bookstore Restoring All Things: God's Audacious Plan to Change the World through Everyday People John Stonestreet, Warren Cole Smith | Baker Books | May 2015 As Eric Metaxsas rightly says in this short interview: The government and our culture are being very heavy-handed about imposing this new view of sexuality upon society. To have believed for thousands of years that marriage is between a man and a woman, and then suddenly to have your government insist that you must change you view. To say to you there will not be any civil discussion about this. To call you a bigot and tell you to shut-up. This is what is happening today to the Church. It is being silenced. This is what happened in the 1930s in Nazi Germany and look where it took them. The Church needs to speak up and tell the society and State when something is wrong. When the Church compromises and accepts the attempt to silence it, we are all in trouble. Will you speak up? ‘Captain America: Civil War’ Compromise vs Conviction
Posted by AP Magazine on May 6, 2016 “Compromise, Reassurance, that’s how the world works,” says Secretary of State Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross to The Avengers as he hands them the Sokovia Accords; a set of government oversights created to keep The Avengers in check and accountable for their actions. As General Ross shows the gathered Avengers footage of the destruction which occurred in the events of the previous films, he tells the clearly uncomfortable group of heroes: ‘Captain, people are afraid.’ ‘That’s why I’m here,’ Tony Stark (Iron Man) chimes in. ‘We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I’m game.’ The rest of team Iron Man agree. Checks and balances signed by 112 Nations must obviously be the best course of action for everyone. “Compromise, Reassurance, that’s how the world works”. But Steve Rogers (Captain America) doesn’t agree. ‘I’m sorry Tony – If I see a situation pointed south I can’t ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could,’ Steve replies. “No you don’t” Tony shoots back Steve smiles sadly “No I don’t”. And there it is, the fundamental break in ideology that sets us up for the rest of the movie’s conflict. Team Iron Man believes that compromise and reassurance is the best and only path forward for the Avengers. While Team Captain America holds that right is right and wrong is wrong and politics should not have the power to dictate when and where the Avengers go and who they help. It is a complex and wonderfully grey conflict between the two camps and it really caught my attention. Not only because it’s an excellent piece of storytelling by the team from Marvel, but also because I see elements of the same conflict being played out in Churches today. Take this quote from ‘Thunderbolt Ross’: “Captain, while a great many people see you as a hero, there are some who prefer the word vigilante. You’ve operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That’s something the world can no longer tolerate.” Now change a couple of words around: “Christian, while a great many people see you as a good person, there are some who prefer the word bigot. You’ve preached without censorship and with no consideration of the feelings of others. That’s something the world can no longer tolerate.” Sound familiar? Christianity (especially in the West) is under a social pressure unlike anything my generation or my parent’s generation have ever seen. And so we now find ourselves like the Avengers, faced with a choice. Do we as Christians compromise with society to reassure them that there is nothing wrong with their life choices, and it’s all okay as long as they’re good people who follow the law of the land? Or do we stand by the word of God, which holds people to a higher, righteous standard and refuse to compromise on issues like abortion, euthanasia and marriage? In 2 Corinthians 6:14-17, Paul speaks about our struggle as Christians to be spiritually separate from the world, to not only defend the faith but also to safeguard the truth. Paul is warning us that a compromised truth that makes Non-Christians feel comfortable and reassured, cannot defeat Satan, or rescue those who have fallen into his snare. The Bible is very clear on what is right and what is wrong and gives us plenty of examples of how Jesus and the apostles responded to dangerous and false teachers. Hint: it wasn’t with compromise or reassurance! 2 John 10-11. Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, was not wrong that compromise and reassurance play a big role in how the world the works. We see this in government, in our workplaces and in our relationships with our friends and families. But what his statement fails to cover is that there will always be things that must never be compromised on, and that there are some truths, no matter how upsetting or confronting, that people should not be spared from. Captain America knew this and as Christians we are told to actively live this. And, just as The Avengers strength is what led them into this conflict- Vision: “Our very strength incites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict… breeds catastrophe.” -then our strength of conviction will also incite challenge and conflict, and for some of us even catastrophe. Luke 21: 12-16 But we must not be afraid. The Lord has called us to safeguard the gospel message and not temper living faithful lives just to reassure the feelings of others. So it’s Team Captain America for me. https://apmagonline.org/2016/05/06/captain-america-civil-war-compromise-vs-conviction/ Why Christians should speak out today: Eric Metaxas During the recent 'Fearless' tour of Australia, Eric Metaxas addressed the ACL 2016 National Conference in Sydney. Listen to Eric encourage us on why it's so important for each and every one of us to take a stand for our beliefs in this country. Courtesy ACL. Watch the presentation now
Australian Christian Lobby Queensland Director and Spokesperson on the rights of Women, Wendy Francis, addresses the 2016 Australian Christian Lobby National Conference in Sydney. Wendy is passionate about fighting to reduce the prevalence of sexualised imagery in our public spaces. She feels that the wallpaper of our children’s lives should not be sexual, and we must not be silent in the face of such inappropriate marketing. Courtesy: ACL.org.au
The Jewish Intellectual Who Predicted America's Social Collapse
by Bruce Ashford // Tim Keller calls this man one of the 20th century’s most significant cultural analysts. Why? + Courtesy: The Gospel Coalition The Message of Islam vs. The Gospel of Jesus
by Don Carson, Graham Cole, Douglas A. Sweeney, and Harold A. Netland // There are clear similarities between Christians and Muslims. But there are vital differences as well—differences that take us to the heart of the Christian gospel. + Courtesy: The Gospel Coalition Reading Augustine in an Election Year
by Russell Moore // This year will be tumultuous, perhaps more than any before in American history. That’s why this is a good year for Augustine’s 'City of God.' + Courtesy: Gospel Coalition |
Craig MannersWhile much of what is written in this Blog may currently appear to be counter-cultural, given our post-truth culture, it is in no way counter-human beings. I am always for people no matter what they think, do, or may have done in their past. Where I put forward ideas or debate against certain ideology, behaviour, ideas, movements, politics, I remain very much on the side of the human beings even though I may be opposed to their worldview, behaviour and politics. Such opposition is generally out of concern for the ultimate consequences of such behaviour or ideas, especially for children. |