June 24, 2022

“We want the universe to hold our hand without bossing us around.”

Talk about a confused mind and a conflated world view. America, having been established on the foundation of a Christian world view, we now seek to exist as if God does not. Our current culture wants the dignity and nobility given to us by God and acknowledged by the Constitution but eviscerated and erased of all its moral force and fiber as we demand total personal autonomy and complete authority in our daily lives. Many of the social moral metrics are continuing to change and reveal disturbing trends. For the first time, a majority of Americans favor abortion. More Americans and Christians favor the LGBTQ++ agenda with all of its moral perversion in the name of autonomy and love. The evangelical church has declined and defections from the faith have increased… even by pastors and “Christian leaders.” Many of our political leaders, including both the president and Vice president as well as the speaker of the house demonstrate their duplicity, if not idiocy, by claiming their religious faith is not in opposition to favoring and allowing abortion. (Even the liberal pope of the Roman Catholic Church would have difficulty with this...but evidently not too much.) Today, moral accountability and ethical responsibility are out of style. Unfortunately, many Christians are somewhat ignorant of what is happening. And that is what is happening, not knowing what is happening. This type of ignorance allows them to be manipulated by forces that mold and make public opinion. Others may know but feel they are in the minority, so they self sensor resulting in a spiral of silence. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We as a country used to know and believe this was true. But when people no longer believe God is, then there is no reason to behave like He is. And so, they don’t. The vestige of much of Christianity has mutated into secular civil religion and as such, “We want the universe to hold our hand, but we do not want it to boss us around.” As Bob Dylan reminds us- "You got to serve somebody." As God reminds us- "Choose this day whom you will serve." Joshua 24:14-15 Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred

June 17, 2022

History offers no promise of an answer or a happy ending…there is not even a promise of a happy beginning. -Dominic Green-

The modern progressive movement seems to be either ignorant of history or has chosen to rewrite it in a way that fits their ideology. The “1619 Project” is simply a modern version of the Fabian Society, both seeking to rewrite history and advance a socialist agenda much of which finds itself incarnated today in the likes of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and AOC. The socialist impulse that is often errantly and erroneously connected to the biblical concept of love converted to social justice theory has been in American political circles for many years. This modern expression has all the markings of former spasms of social unrest including a canceling culture that seeks to cancel people and diverse opinions on university campuses and now in the halls of federal government and the board rooms of big tech, state agencies, and Attorneys General. Protesters along with hired hoodlums bring violence and intimidation to city streets and to the streets of Supreme Court Justices. Anarchy is the result, and fear and domestic terrorism are its tools. Whether it was the Brown Shirts of Hitler, the thugs of Stalin or the modern police state of Mao and now Xi, mental or physical tyranny and spiritual and social destruction are the desired result. It seems that Cicero was right; “Not to know what happened before you were born, is to be a child forever.” As Lord Acton reminds us, “The story of the future is written in the past.”  Is this true? It might seem so if we look back to the Garden of Eden and see the temptation and rebellion and the future destruction of man for the simple and seminal reason- They did not trust God’s goodness or His word. Fast forward to the ancient Nation of Israel. They too had the word of God through prophets and priests and determined that God and His word were not to be trusted. In the recent past, church history is filled with illustrations of corruption of the church and collusion with the culture. And even today, the reports of moral failure in a wide variety of formations seem to be broadcasted daily. (I think the “Queering the Bible Project” and the “Queer Hymnal” justify a description of depraved minds inside the church.) Mark it well -- rejection of God’s word leads to rebellion in man’s ways. What is wrong with this picture and why does evil seem to be so present and prevalent? Perhaps the word of God has it right concerning the true picture of the problem of man. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is death.”  “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” “And God gave them over to a depraved mind.” Is it possible that Dominic Green is correct when he says, “History offers no promise of an answer or a happy ending… There is not even a promise of a happy beginning.” No! He is absolutely incorrect! The plan of creation and communion with the Lord will not be thwarted for God’s creation and His prophetic plan will not be prevented. He patiently awaits the day (God desires all to come to repentance) and the time when His millennial kingdom will come (Rev 20) followed by the establishment of His Eternal Kingdom (Rev. 21-22). In that day and at that time the proclamation of the Apostle Paul will be true, “And God will be all in all. (I Cor. 15:28) Eden will come and cover the earth and the prayer of Jesus, “…Your kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10) will come true. Until that time and until that day the words of Admiral Chester Nimitz may help; "God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.” It only looks hopeless now. But if we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, we will then understand that Jesus is truly “our hope and the anchor of our soul.”  Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred

June 10, 2022

The fool knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. ~ Oscar Wilde ~

Christians in America are living in unmapped waters and uncharted territory. We have come to the time when we no longer seem to understand that there is a difference between that which is legal and that which is moral. Legal is based on the majority vote of man. Moral is based on the minority veto of the only wise God. I have the privilege of teaching an Ethics course to seminary students. I introduce biblical principles that are eternal and apply them to temporal problems that are plentiful. The recent moral revolution has been won by the popular culture and lost by the Christian Church. This is evidenced by the new polls that reveal that a majority of the country believes that abortion should be legal, and also that transgender is a gift of science and homosexuality is a gift from God. The quest for absolute autonomy and unqualified authority confirms what the Apostle Paul declared, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18)  However, we know that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10) But such knowledge is unknown to our lost and dying world. To the perennial question asked by Francis Schaeffer; “How should we then live?” in this post Christian, Christ hating culture, the answer has always been and forever will be, “to know Christ and make Him known.” It is to fulfill the great commission by proclaiming truth. We still believe there is truth…even True Truth. We are to manifest the music of the gospel through our lives and proclaim the message of the gospel through our lips. We must radiate winsomeness and manifest wisdom. However, there are limits to our accommodation to a corrupt culture. Although we must have the mindset of the Apostle Paul and seek to become all things to all men that we might save some (I Corinthians 9:20-22), we must realize there is a time when we must not accommodate or affirm our culture. Living in a pluralistic culture it is essential to know when to be dogmatic and when to be "bulldogmatic." There is a difference. In today’s American culture, the thought police declare that it is not enough to simply allow for moral perversion. The moral revolution demands that we affirm its perversion. They call it "declarations of affirmation." We are demanded to affirm and declare our approval of that which the Lord does not approve. As Theo Hobson reminds us: “Moral revolution must include: What was condemned must now be celebrated. What was celebrated must now be condemned. Those who will not celebrate must now be condemned.” Perhaps another way of sensing our cultural collapse:   What was accepted is now rejected.   What was rejected is now accepted.   Those who do not accept what is now accepted must be rejected. I think it is time we got ready to be rejected and ridiculed in a variety of ways. And yet we must maintain the mind of Christ from the cross. “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred

June 3, 2022

We Won’t Get Fooled Again -The Who-

Most dictators are a depraved parity, a divine pretender, or a despotic potentate. We see this on the past pages of history and on the stage at this present moment. They are liars, sometimes lunatics, and all too often they are lethal. They are frauds and fakes who fabricate falsehoods and fortify our fears. History’s past reminds us of humanity’s nemeses. Names such as Hitler, Stalin, Hirohito, Pol Pot, Mao, and Castro come to our minds. Today in this present hour we recognize the names of Xi, Putin, Kim Jong Un, a.k.a. Rocketman. Biblical Prophecy speaks to our future where we shall realize a singular man who is anti-man and more specifically anti-Christ. (I John 2:18, 4:3; 2 Thess. 2:3-5; Rev. 11;7, 13:1-10) He will promise peace. He will provide protection. But in the end, he will deliver death. He will have dreams of divinity as he seeks to control humanity. And humanity will exchange its liberty for security and eliminate its freedom for serfdom. It will be worship that is idolatry. In the past as in the present people have looked for a spiritual solution, a hope of heaven in a western catholic Pontiff or an eastern orthodox Patriarch or even a local parish Priest. But there is no temporal or eternal hope in these men. The only eternal hope is in the Savior of mankind, the Son of God, who gave His life a ransom to provide reconciliation and redemption so that we could be justified, our sin propitiated, and be declared no longer guilty, no longer condemned, and no longer shamed. We are declared - Saints Alive… Free and Clear! Political dictators and our societal moral degeneration in all its perverted varieties and categories are simply acts of rebellion against the one and only Holy God. (Romans 1) The world leaders of today would do well to remember a former day and a former political leader, King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4), and the lesson he needed to learn -- that God is God and He will have No Rivals. We all need to realize what Isaiah reminds us of in Isaiah 43:10-13: “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.  “I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me. “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And I am God. “Even from eternity I am He; And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?” Moses reminds us of the same truth in Deuteronomy 32:39: ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal; And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.’ Political leaders come and go. But our God reigns. (Psalm 73:1-18) As for our society bent on perversion of every kind imaginable and unimaginable - we would do well to remember Sodom and Gomorrah. Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred