God's Knowledge/Man's Knowledge

Jeff Downs has posted an audio of a discussion of the controversy between God's Foreknowledge and Man's Knowledge

Some of you are familiar with what has become known (inappropriately) as the Van Til/Clark controversy; dealing with what constitutes God's knowledge and man's knowledge. Recently the crew from the Reformed Forum spent some time with Dr. Scott Oliphint (who sat under Van Til and now teaches Apologetics at WTS) and addressed this controversy. Click here to listen.

If you are not familiar with Dr. Oliphint, he is the author of The Battle Belongs to the Lord and Reasons for Faith: Philosophy in the Service of Theology, both books dealing with apologetics. He is also one of the editors of Christian Apologetics Past and Present: A Primary Source Reader. Dr. Oliphint is certainly one of my favorites when it comes to contemporary apologetic thought.

God's Knowledge/Man's Knowledge

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Hazakim's "Theophanies"

This is awesome!!!! This wonderful Christian hip hop music. It is intended to not just entertain but get Christians to become serious about proclaiming who Jesus is and challenge skeptics, atheists, and the like to consider the truths of the Bible.

Theophanies by Hazakim

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Review: "Madea Goes to Jail"

I just saw Madea Goes To Jail. I liked it. There are a lot of positive things about the movie. I'd like enumerate them:

1. Forgiveness frees both the transgressor and the one has been transgressed against.
2. People must stop being a victim and take responsibility for the parts they played in the situations they find themselves in.
3. It is wrong to step on other people's lives to advance your lives.
4. It is wrong to look down on others and judge where they are in life as if you are better than they.
5. People can change for the better.

However, there are somethings that I think that the movie teaches are wrong.
1. A minister was attempting to hand out clean needles and condoms to prostitutes in an attempt to help keep them safe. My problem is that it enables them to keep going in their condition without neccessarily changing. The Word of God is powerful enough to change any life. Rather than enabling people in their sins we need to feed them, clothe them, and preach the Word of God to change their lives. For those who are unwilling to accept but will take the condoms and the needles, there isn't much more we can do for them other than to pray.
2. Madea's and Joe's characters' addictions and attitudes are presented for humor and not shown to be negative. Anger is not sinful but destroying property, shooting at people, or being rude and cursing are not the ways God wants us to handle our anger.
3. Madea's disdain for church is glorified and the movie suggests that you can be moral and wise without church. God told us that we must go to church. Bottom line. If you belong to Him and you want to obey him (which means you belong to him) then you will go to church....happily!
4. Now this is the most controversial point, that I'm sure that I will get some flack for saying this: It is wrong for Tyler Perry to dress up as a woman and pretend to be a 60-something woman. It is unfortunate that he is now in a position that without Madea his work is not financially bankable with the big Hollywood studios. I think that Lionsgate has made it clear that he must do a Madea film every once in a while. What is my proof that God does not like cross-dressing?

A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this.
- Deuteronomy 22:5

In conclusion, I do not want to suggest that the movie has no good points. The issue is that the movie sends mixed messages. Here is the trailer:

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First Female Dictator Hailed As Step Forward For Women

Before I post the following video, I thought that it was amazing how much it comments on the state of feminism and cries of "equal" rights. This video is a humorous parody of what would happen if a woman became dictator of a third-world country. Most of the comments are applied to any woman who is "first" to be something or do something traditionally dominated by men. It's strange to hear those same comments being applied to being a dictator and engineer of genocide and persecution as those comments praising a woman for excelling at being an executive or successful at something good. Have we really gone that far at praising women for everything...good or bad? Something to think about. Personally, I don't have a problem with women having and welding authority and power as long at they do it according to the will of God. That being said men and women are different...neither is better or worse than the other. God said so.

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"Religuous" is Ridiculous

Bill Maher has been very clear as to what he believes "religion" is. He is wrong. I can't speak for other faiths but I can categorically assert Christianity is not about embracing the end of the world or wishing for death. It's about embracing and hanging on to life the only way possible: Jesus Christ. All the evils of the world montaged at end of Maher's movie can be traced to only one source: sin. If you want to be free of it faith in Jesus is the only way. Maher expresses the exact opposite of what the Bible says. Trust in God is the answer not doubt. Faith is not equivalent to shutting off your brain and not thinking. God has given us enough evidence that your faith can be based on reason. His and Christopher Hitchen's definition of faith is wrong. The Bible does not give us all the answers, just enough so that we can put our faith in the right place. I disagree with the following video in more ways that I can count. None of his arguments stand up to any kind of scrutiny.



One of the most important problem I see that Maher has is that he believes that he is angry that it appears that Christians believe that we have the answers. He thinks that we think we are better than those who confess that they don't know. To be honest, we know that we are not better than anyone else. It's only because of God's grace and mercy that we know what we do. We know what happens when someone dies only because God told humanity what happens.
So much of what the Bible teaches can substantiate by archeology, history, and science. As for everything else it cannot be refuted.

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Madea Goes To Jail

It's been announced that Tyler Perry's newest movie will be released February 20, 2009. It's called Madea Goes To Jail which is based on the play of the same name. Is it going to be exactly like the play? I don't know. I liked the play. Tyler Perry's work is wildly popular among Christians especially black Christians. A lot of Christians believe that it's wholesome entertainment because of the morality being taught and the fact that Christ is looked to as the answer for life's problems. I agree. You can completely see that when you see the plays. However, the movies are a little different. Perry has had to tone down the religious truths in the movies to give them more mass market appeal. I'm not really willing to "throw him under the bus" because of this. The movies still have good moral and Christian values. There is somethings that can't be ignored. God says in his word that men should not dress like women and women should not dress like men in order to pass as the other gender.
Deuteronomy 22:5 says:

The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

This is the bottom line. Based on this I'm not sure if I can, in good conscience, condone this movie. It's something I will be praying about. Here is the trailer:

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Unfair Criticism

I have recently come across a video where Pastor Rick Warren is criticized for telling an audience of unbelievers that people should not worry about pleasing themselves but work to improve the lives of people around us. The critic is upset because Pastor Warren did not tell them that they need to be saved and give their lives over to Christ. The video is just a clip. I don't know if that he did or did not tell them about sin and the need for repentance but I know for sure that in his book Purpose Driven Life, Warren does talk about sin and the need for repentance. This I am sure about. I don't think that there is anything wrong in telling unbelievers to find out what God has purposed for them. I mean what higher purpose does God have but for us to trust Jesus and be saved from our sins. Warren is trying to inspire a world that denies the need of God to search for him. We know that if people search for God he will show them Jesus for only through Jesus will we reach our full potential and fulfill God's purposes for us.

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Voted for Obama? This Guy says "Repent!"

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I'd Call This"Terrorism"

This morning on James White's blog I heard about something that should receive national attention. On Sunday, November 9, 2008, some gay "activist" crashed a church meeting. Thirty people sat through a portion of the worship service and then in a pre-arranged and coordinated coup, disrupted the service. Dr White posted a link to an article reporting on the incident. This post includes a copy of a picture of the perpetrators. Here is an excerpt:

Prayer had just finished when men and women stood up in pockets across the congregation, on the main floor and in the balcony. "Jesus was gay," they shouted among other profanities and blasphemies as they rushed the stage. Some forced their way through rows of women and kids to try to hang a profane banner from the balcony while others began tossing fliers into the air. Two women made their way to the pulpit and began to kiss.

Their other props? I'll let them tell you in their own words... from another of their liberal blogs:

"(A) video camera, a megaphone, noise makers, condoms, glitter by the bucket load, confetti, pink fabric...yeh."

The video camera they put to good use as they attempted to provoke a violent reaction. The image of the pink-clad folks above is one of theirs, stating in a picture worth more than a thousand words the goals of the Michigan left.

I admit the article did seem to try to imply that the protesters were having sex publicly in the building or displaying used condoms, without really saying that they did it. Therefore I'd be willing to discount that part of the report. However, disrupting a church service...any church service...is a denial of rights as an American citizen. Apparently the protesters did not like the church's teachings concerning abortion and same-sex marriage. Two things stick out to me. One, This didn't happen in region of America known for liberal stunts. This was not San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Las Vegas, Miami, or even New York. It took place in Lansing, Michigan!!!!! And, two, where do we draw the line between "protester" and "terrorist"? When you attack and disrupt a worship service, that's an act of terrorism. I mean do we burst into gay people's bed rooms and stop them in what they are doing? No. And we haven't the legal right, no matter how much we may disagree.

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Oprah's Anti-Christ Agenda

I use Google's RSS feed reader to keep up-to-date on what the new videos on GodTube are. I found one called Oprah's Anti-Christ Agenda and it is very interesting. Take a look:



The video draws a link between Oprah's endorsing and teaching New Age Spirituality and the coming Anti-Christ. I liked the video. It contains a lot of truth. I'm not sure if I agree with all the conclusions. The fact is that Course in Miracles is lie. For every single quote the video uses to show how the Course contradicts the Bible there is a verse that says opposite what the Course says. No kidding! If the author of Course in Miracles is truly channeling a spirit its not Jesus. It has to be a demon because it flies in the face of what Jesus has already said. That part of the video is 100% true. I know because i have read the book it is a far-off as a 2 sided triangle! It's also could be true that Oprah is intending to get a high-level cabinet position if Obama wins. She has surely pumped so much influence and money into his campaign that he is going to owe her. In my opinion, a new cabinet position dedicated to peace is not going to be too much to ask for. Most people are not going to see a problem with that. If the video's producers are correct and the goal is to establish peace based on New Age Spirituality then we have more than a problem. There will be no real peace and it will provide the perfect climate for someone like the Anti-Christ to come up. I say this because it's happened before...in the the 1930's with the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. This would be profoundly worse because this would be at a global level given our economic situation and the speed at which we can now travel and communicate.

Let me be clear: I am not suggesting that Oprah is the Anti-Christ or is voluntarily and consciously laying the ground work for his emergence. I am merely saying that things look "fishy". I would not try to make as a strong connection between Oprah and the Ant-Christ because I truly do not know who he is or how he will come to power. I just see some of the signs. It is best that we put our trust in the only one who can save us - Jesus!

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. - Mark 13:22

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. - 1 John 2:18

Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. - 1 John 2:22

but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. - 1 John 4:3

Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. - 2 John 1:7

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Bill Maher: Sarah Palin and "Religulous"

You may be aware that the talk show host/comedian/social commentator Bill Maher is promoting his new movie being released on October 3, 2o08. He was recently on The View talking about his views on Sarah Palin and on what his new movie is about. Take note on how they are sitting: the two women who agree with him are on his right and the two that disagree with his world view are on the left. I find I disagree with him about everything he says about religion but somethings he says about politics is true (ie Sarah Palin is not ready to be President if something befell McCain). I don't think that there is any need to insult her however. Here are somethings about religion I disagree with. He says that all he is doing in the film is asking questions. The problem is that he has his mind already made up and he's not looking for the facts. He presupposes that there are no rational answers to his questions. The joke for him is that people believe in things that can't be true. He never seems to be looking at if these things are true or not. The funny thing is that as far as I can tell he never asks anyone who can give reasoned answers. He believes that to have faith means that you have no reason. He really needs to sit down with a good apologetics text or theologian who has studied these points. There are good answers!

Here is an example of some of the questions I have heard asked in the movie's trailer and some answers
1. Why doesn't God just destroy the devil and abolish evil? The devil is not the only evil in the world. We are all evil compared to God and exterminate it completely means that he would have to obliterate all of us...past, present, and future. Instead he chose to redeem some of us because he wanted to. Aren't you glad God chose option B and not Bill Maher's solution!
2. Does it make sense for people to live 900 years and greater? Why not. At the beginning of the human race the earth had none of the polutants that shorten human life. There is also evidence that at one time there was a shield of ice that protected the earth from more radiation than is filtered out now. The Bible hints at this when it talks about the Sky separating water under the sky gathered together to from "seas" and water above the sky in Genesis 1:6,7,8. Some have also postulated that the water above the sky is where some of the flood water came from.

I think Sherri Shepherd made good case. If you don't know who God is why don't you ask Him personally. You can see Bill's attitude of scorn...deriding her and calling her crazy because God spoke to her. If God is not talking to you, then I think you are the one with the problem. Hebrews 11: 1-6 says what faith is and it does not match Bill's definition.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

I was also disheartened to hear that the film has blatant lies and falsehoods in it. Lies repeated by Joy Behar during the show. Some accuse Christianity of stealing its concepts from mystery religions, Egypt and other Gods. Anyone who has seriously researched the subject knows that these are urban legends. The "god" Bill mentioned being born Dec 25, dying and being resurrected is the pagan god Mythras. If you want to know why you can't equate Mythras to what we know is true about Jesus please read Lee Strobel's book "The Case For Christ" where he talked to the world reknowned expert on the Mythras religon and he said that there is no parallel or equal can be found to Jesus at any time. There has been no one else like Jesus before Him. Nor will there ever be anyone else like Him. Make no mistake, He is coming back. Are you ready? Research it for yourself. Don't blindly believe the hype. If you do then you are falling for the same kind "faith" that Maher accuses religious people of having. If anyone wants to know more about this please drop me a comment and I'll put some information together. Here are the videos of Maher on The View and the trailer for his movie. There are people who will be lead astray by Maher. Don't be one of them.

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More Making Fun of Christians in the Name of Politics

In 2004, one of the then members of our church brought the following video (minus the annotations) to our Bible Study. It chronicles the ministry of Pastor Muthee and his wife in Kenya and fighting witchcraft and sin. That video is here.



There has been another video on YouTube showing Sarah Palin being prayed for Pastor Muthee. I see no problem with the prayer. It would be prayed by any pentecostal preacher who has daily come against witchcraft. However, the comments on the video really through me. They made fun of him and her. They scoffed at the reality of witchcraft. In the west, the devil is a little more subtle than in other less "developed" countries. The devil is more apt to do supernatural acts in Kenya than he does here. It carries more weight in Kenya than it does in the United States because America thinks that we are above all of that. In Kenya and the "third world" they are smarter than that. He keeps a low profile in America, allowing us to believe that neither he nor witchcraft exist. They do. The Bible says they do. I don't think Palin is good Presidential material, but I take offense at born-again, Bible-believing Christians being perceived as deluded, ignorant at best and plain stupid at best! Here is the video I am referring to:

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Heroes Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2 Review

Well the wait was about nine long months....almost like for a child to be born....but it finally ended last night, Monday September 22, 2008, in a 3 hour event. Did it live up to the hype? In my opinion: Yes! Questions were answered and more questions posed to viewers. One thing for sure is that the world again hangs in the balance and "saving the cheerleader" will not fix things this time. I am interested in what other people thought about the episodes The Second Coming and The Butterfly Effect. What was your favorite parts? What questions do you have? I don't want to spoil things for those who have not seen them yet so I will list my specific remarks at the bottom of the post so you can stop reading if you want.

But first I just want to make general comments concerning some of the theological issues brought up in Heroes. There are themes that permeate the whole series. These themes revolve around relationship: Father - Son; Father - Daughter; Mother - Son, Brothers, Husband - Wife; Friend to Friend; Individual - Community. The characters constantly make choices and wonder how their actions affect others and sometimes wonder if they should care. I love watching the characters wrestling with those questions. I don't always agree with the conclusions they reach, but I enjoy watching them do it. I believe that these questions are things that God expects us all to consider. Other questions being wrestled with are Who am I?; What are my talents?; What am I supposed to do? The Bible has answers to those questions. In season one, we saw Peter, Sylar, Hiro, and all the other characters struggle to find the answer. Same thing in Season 2, and continues in Season 3. It makes people think about and discuss what makes one a hero. What makes one a villain.

The story basically says that their powers are a product of evolution, yet many of the characters seem to believe in God and look for direction from God. I think the show is a metaphor for America's schizophrenic theology. We can't make up our mind as a nation. When something horrible happens like a terrorist attack or natural disaster we quickly turn to God. Otherwise we ignore Him and teach each other and our children that there is no God and you can do and be what ever you want - accountable to no one - as long as you don't harm other people ( and even that part is changing).

SPOILERS - Do not read this if you don't want to know what happened on the show
1. How come Nathan did not die? It's hinted at that Linderman (who died at the end of Season 1) healed him. That and is it conclusive that no one can see Linderman but Nathan
2. What happened to Micah? Neither he or Monica have appeared yet
3. Is Nikki dead? If she is, then how is Tracy Strauss connected to her? They look identical and her powers are different - she can freeze people (that was a cool effect by the way)
4. Mohinder took the serum to give himself super powers (kinda like Spider-man) but there seemed to be icky side-effects. What are they? He seemed to be in pain.
5. In the future Peter still has that scar....I wonder how he gets it? He has it in two different timelines....does that mean he can't avoid it?
6. We finally know what Bob's power is: turning metal into gold
7. Sylar to Elle: "Look at what your daddy used to could do!" (after Sylar killed him and took his power)
8. We finally know what Angela Petrelli's power is "clairvoyance" in dreams. How do they work?
9. How did future Peter put our Peterinto Jessie's body?
10. What about Kaitlin from season 2? the timeline reset when Peter stopped the Shanti Virus mutation from getting out, what did that do to her? Why hasn't Peter thought about her. He did love her right?
11. Is the formula future Peter was talking about, that his mom and her friends were trying to keep under wraps, the same formula stolen from Hiro and Ando by the speedster (liked her by the way)? Is it related to the same breakthrough Mohinder injected himself with?
12. How does this formula destroy the world? It sure made a mess in Tokyo. It was funny how when Hiro went to take a peek we don't know how far he went, but future Peter is from 4 years in the future. Maybe they are 2 separate timelines?
13. Nathan had a near-death experience. What exactly did he experience.
14. When Sylar took Claire's power, did he mess her up so she no longer feels pain, or is it a natural progression for her power? How is she going to adjust to it? Is it even possible for a human being not to become twisted under those circumstances? It may explain why she was behaving and dressing like she was 4 years in the future.
15. Could Peter be causing the future he is trying to avoid?
16. The real kicker for me was that Sylar tried to kill Elle but ended up releasing the supervillians instead and ended up getting captured.
17. With Bob dead, Angela really stepped up. How much of the Company's activities was she and Kaito privy to?
18. Angela told Sylar that she is his mother!!!!! what????!!!! I was speechless.

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New Catch Phrase for 2008?

I have noticed that this year most political messages have said "I am _____. And I approve this message." I can't say that this is new but it is sticking out to me now. I came across this image on the Internet today. It made me think. When we talk as Christians, the Bible is saying that we need remember that we are ambassadors for Christ. Would Jesus really approve of the things we say and do?

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Judgement on America

I realize that I'm probably going to catch a lot of flack for saying this...of course there is also a chance that no one will read this...but I will say it anyway. I've got to say that in a lot of ways Americans are hurting. I don't know anyone who isn't struggling more financially than they were 8 years ago. Like everyone, I know people who are losing or lost their homes due to foreclosure or a lost of job. What Hillary Clinton said during the Democratic National Convention is true: People are working harder and not gaining ground but loosing it. I don't know why Senator McCain and Governor Palin can't see it. Many of us are living it. A lot of people, even Christians, are unhappy with the way their lives are going and are saying that the economy and the war are more important issues than Same-Sex marriage unions and abortion. They are saying that the economy is more important than protecting marriage and ending abortions. The problem is what does God say is most important. God says that we must purge sin from our lives. We must repent. I hate the high gas prices and the home foreclosures. It makes my life more inconvenient but what is more important...our convenience, standard of living, or obeying God.

I'm sure you have heard of the stock market issues...and large companies going bankrupt. CNN was reporting on Lehmann Brothers' bankruptcy and in the background two men were making out. Think of the picture that shows. We want God to bless us and give us prosperity, yet Howard Stern pulls a prank two have two men kissing and making out on television at the same time we get the news that the economy is sliding further into the toilet. Ironic isn't it? Why would we think that God would bail us out of these problem if we refuse to obey him. Look at the video below to see what I mean.



Here is the antidote. Those who belong to God must pray.

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

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Take a lesson from Iron Man

I edited together clips from Iron Man to illustrate the Biblical truths found in Ephesians 6:10-18. Make no mistake we are in a war and if you are not prepared you will be a casualty. Before we look at the clips here are the relevant scriptures I think need to be brought to mind.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Ephesians 6:10-18

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Saddleback Showdown - John McCain

A couple of weeks ago, Barak Obama and John McCain went on national television and allowed themselves to be individually examined by Pastor Rick Warren. He asked them questions about their world view, what its means to be a "born again" Christian, abortion, taxes, gay marriage, and several other great questions. I'm going to do 2 posts - one for Obama and the other for McCain. This will not comprehensively cover every important thing they talked about. I will choose just four. This post is about McCain's responses.

What about Jesus?

McCain claimed that he is a follower of Christ. He said that he is "saved and forgiven". What? I wish he had elaborated. Saved from what? Forgiven for what? How? Who? I realized that he may have assumed that everyone understood his "Christianeeze" - the jargon of Christianity. However, it doesn't take much to realize that some people mean entirely different things in using these words than what Christians have historically and Biblically meant. Mormons use those terms too, but if you study what they believe it doesn't line up the same. Instead of fully examining the question, McCain gave an emotional and heart-wrenching story of how his Christian faith connected him with a North Vietnamese prison camp guard. Grant it he was also trying to get people to connect with him not Jesus. He really wants to be elected. I think that is a problem.

Abortion?

I was amazed how direct he was about what he thinks about abortion. I agree with him, all people are entitled to human rights at the moment of conception.

Taxes?

It sounds good doesn't it. He said he wants everyone to be rich. I agree with his definition of "rich" - having what you need to be happy. I think that he's naive in thinking that there is no need for re-distribution of wealth and that there is no class warfare. The gap between people who have wealth and those who don't is growing. The middle class is disappearing. I think that he and Obama agree in trying to better the lives of people. They just disagree on how to do it. I think he's right the government has been overspending. I would have liked to hear the year and administration that allowed the money to be spent on the study of Bear DNA, but it was an effective joke. I disagree with the thought that the government should be scaled down because people cannot be trusted to love their neighbor as themselves when money is involved.

Gay Marriage?

I really liked his response to the question on the definition of what marriage is. Changing the definition of marriage is a bad idea. I did notice that he was very carefully politically. He did not openly challenge the morality of same-sex marriage so he would not alienate people, but he said that the issue should be decided by states themselves and not the federal government. It fits with his ideas of smaller, less-controlling government. The problem is that unless this country makes a decision as to whether or not we will follow God or not on the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage we are going to continue to see division and failure, if not a civil war, as a nation just like slavery divided the nation 140 years ago.

Is there Evil?

I thought the question was vague. I'm not sure what Rick Warren meant by the question...."evil" in what sense? Did he mean the evil in each one of us that can only be destroyed by the power of God? To McCain, evil equates to the Radical Islamic Fundamentalism. He blames it for producing Osama Bin Laden and the horror of September 11, 2001 and the wars on terrorism taking place today. I agree that Bin Laden must be found and brought to justice and I believe that Islamic Fundamentalism is antithetical to Christianity. It cannot be reasoned with. It cannot be ignored. It can't be reconciled. They really want to kill us. They must be stopped. The problem is that as near as I can tell our government made the terrorism possible when we supported and trained Bin Laden against the Russian in Afghanistan and then pulled out and did not fulfill promises made to the rebels. It's blow back from bad foreign policy that we are paying for now. Of course what the terrorists are doing are evil and must be stopped, but are we really any better? Ask the South American and Caribbean countries we have invaded. Ask the people in Africa and other parts of the world who were exterminated and we did nothing because they did not have oil. Ask the black folks that were lynched, oppressed, disenfranchised. Ask the Native Americans, those that survived the genocide. As a nation we are called by God to do better by people. If we don't do better how can expect the rest of the nations to do good to us?

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Democratic National Convention 2008 part 1 - Into Post

The last week of August 2008, the Democratic National Convention was held in Denver, Colorado. I viewed all the major speeches and will probably post about each speech that I thought was noteworthy. In this introductory post, I want to just make general comments. I've go to admit that the goal was to make Obama and Biden look as electable as possible. I heard more saber-rattling than substance. By this I mean that I heard more about Bush and the Republicans have messed up our economy and our Foreign Standing among the nations of the world rather than how we are going to fix it. I also found out that for the first time at the DNC, a church service was held the Sunday of that week to officially kick off the convention. I posted a video earlier that shows the whole hour service. I call it a church service but in order to make sure not to alienate or offend anyone it was called an "Interfaith Gathering". They had clergy from all the major religions to speak and honor their view of God. Selections from the Torah, Bible, Koran, and other holy texts were read before each speaker. Each speaker was able to say what ever they wanted to say.

Each speaker spoke about our "Sacred Responsibility" in a different context. For example Bishop Blake, the Presiding Prelate of the Church of God in Christ, spoke of "Our Sacred Responsibility to our Children". He spoke about prioritizing Children all over the world and protecting them. In addition he brought up the contradiction of loving and caring children but supporting abortion. He said that children are a gift of God. He said he disagreed with the Democratic Party's Pro-Choice stance, but agreed with Obama's plan to cut down on abortion by giving women more choices.

Another example was Sister Helen Prejean. She is a Roman Catholic Nun and Anti-Death Penalty Activist. She spoke of "Our Sacred Responsibility to Our Nation". She focused on her pet-issue. Her contention was that abolishing the death penalty is part of our responsibility to the nation. I thought that she appealed to emotion and the guilt of misapplying the death penalty. She pointed out how only poor people who murder white people actually end up on death row. I think she's right about that, but then she went to a very troubling place theologically. She said that our opinion on the death penalty brings up our view of God. I agree. Unfortunately she said that the Bible conflicts itself on God's character. Either He is forgiving and merciful or He is vengeful and harsh, is what she put forth and that we must pick which view we want to base our lives on. She then said that some Christians believe that God sacrificed his son to pay for our sins and that in the death penalty criminals pay for their sins to go to heaven. This is not what the Gospel is, but it is something you can get out of Roman Catholicism. To hear the Gospel mangled like that really offended me. She rejected that view and seemed to me to suggest Jesus' death on the cross had no redeeming value for anyone - all to disparage the death penalty which has nothing to do with saving anyone from hell.

There was a lot of good and bad said during the meeting. The CEO of the convention is a Pastor out of Washington DC named Leah Daughtry. The goal of this meeting was to show the world that you can be religious and still be a Democrat. Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, on August 19, 2008, says the there is a "God Gap" between the Republicans and the Democrats. The Republicans are often depicted as being "people of faith" more so than Democrats. The problem I have is with trying to be all things to all People. Orthodox Judaism Islam, and all the other religions represented contradicts Christianity. They say Jesus is not the only way to God that their way is just as valid. Christians say Jesus is the only Way. We can't all be right. Holding hands and singing "Kum Bah Ya" is not going to erase this division and all depends on what you think about Jesus. Is it what Jesus said about himself or not? Everyone who spoke was very careful in all they said not to offend anyone. Pastor Daughtry even referred to God as he/she - what ever you believe God to be. In effect this is allowing people to make up their own God instead of how God truly revealed himself in the Scriptures. Not good.

The last point that I would raise is how many Muslim women spoke on behalf of Islam while in a Muslim country this would have been the case at all. Islam was depicted as a religion of peace and enlightenment on par and equal to Christianity while it does not take any time to show that there are very many discrepancies between the Koran and the Bible and in faith and practices.

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Today is a big day

Today, August 20, 2008. is my fourth wedding anniversary. I thank God daily for the gift he has so graciously bestowed upon me - my wife. Mitsouky is so wonderful in so many different ways. She has an outgoing personality. She lights up a room with her charm. She is so very intelligent. God blesses her to accomplish whatever He puts in her. She has wonderful people skills and does her best work in the center of attention without being arrogant or prideful. On top of that she is beautiful - inside and out; physically and mentally. On top of all of that she is a powerful partner and helpmate. I have no idea what I would do without her. She has also blossomed as a mother. Our daughter is blessed to have her as a mother. I love her sense of humor and her abilities to sing and dance. Mitsouky brings the party with her where ever she goes. She loves music and has talents that allow her to explore musical genres.

The Bible says that

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. Proverbs 18:22 (KJV)

Mitsouky is my good thing. I love that scripture. It reminds me that no matter what my wife is a gift from God and He gave her to me to show me His favor. Favor is undeserved on my part, meaning it was because of his mercy and goodness not because of anything I have said or done. I thank Mitsouky for choosing to give me the love God has put inside of her for me and for accepting the love God has put inside me for her.

Not that there aren't problems or issues. Not that sometimes neither one of us knows what to do or how to do. But with the help of God we stick to one another, loving and caring for each other's needs and desires just as much as we care about our own individual needs and desire.

The only downside to having an anniversary in the middle of a week is that we can't celebrate that day. So we'll be celebrating this weekend.

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The Truth Behind G. Craig Lewis Part 3

Anthony from Hazakim pointed out many historical inaccurate claims Lewis has publicly stated in his "The Truth Behind Hip Hop" series. Toward the end of his first DVD, Lewis stated that Freddie Stone, who was the lead guitarist of the group Sly and the Family Stone , had said that he and other members were high on heroine when they wrote music. This is what Lewis said:



Today Pastor Frederick Stewart (Freddie Stone) has been now saved upwards of 28 years and is now Pastor of Evangelist Temple Church of God in Christ in Vallejo, California. On top of that he is my Pastor and in public and private has made no secret of the life of drugs that God delivered him from. He has said that he never shot up heroine. That means that Lewis is wrong. Pastor Stewart has no reason to not admit it if it were true. He admits to everything else. He boasts not himself but in what God has done for him and through him. If Lewis was right Pastor Stewart would use it as one more proof of what God has delivered him from. Pastor Stewart has not said anything of the kind of things Lewis said that he had said.

Lewis also said that he was instrumental in the conversion of Kevin Thornton. Kevin was a member of the group Color Me Badd. Here is Lewis talking about it:



Then I heard Kevin's testimony. It's a beautiful testimony about what God delivered him from but nothing about Lewis or Lewis casting 49 demons out of him. This is how Kevin answered the question about why and how he became a gospel artist.


I have found some corroborating evidence on the internet. Read this article here. It even has an audio clip of a demon supposedly talking through Thornton. This post references to another post that says the clip was provided by Bob Larson. Bob Larson is not really a credible source. He is spoken of well by Lewis but is debunked by the Christian Research Institute (CRI). Here is an article they published in the CRI Journal. Because of his teachings, they and many ministers do not take Larson's tales as factual. Neither I, CRI, nor orthodox historic Christianity denies the existence of demons or demon possession but I just don't think Larson is being truthful. I will write more on him in another article. Added to the fact that Larson claims to have performed the exorcism on Thornton and Lewis make the same claim without either mentioning the presence of the other I've got to wonder if either one is telling the truth. The picture on the right is of the group Color Me Badd and Kevin is the black man. I cannot find anyplace where Kevin Thornton confesses to have needing an exorcism.

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