Jan-Dec 2020
Apr-Dec '18
UnShackled
for Life
Freedom to Go 'n Grow Together in Christ
Christianity
Jul '20 - Jun '21
(06/28/2021) Another Example of the Failure of ‘Progressive’ Religious Faith. This focuses on Jews, but it is quite interesting. One lesson I take from it is that we evangelicals need to do a better job of raising our kids "in the faith."
(06/24/2021) The Truth: Biden is supposed to DENY HIMSELF Communion. Of course, that would only happen if he were actually a devout Catholic. Which we are assured he is. By people who aren't devout Catholics. Or even Catholic at all!
(06/05/2021) Pastors, for the Love of God and Your People, Use Your Authority! Interesting.
(05/29/2021) Evidence That the Gospels are Based on Eyewitness Testimony. Pretty interesting.
(05/28/2021) America’s Un-Civil War: Secularists vs. Believers. This is a re-print, and well worth reading. We have a political divide in this country, to be sure. But that isn't the fundamental divide. Rather than "secularists" and "believers," I think a better description is between those that put their faith in God and those that put their faith in man.
(05/28/2021) Canadian Church Ordered to Close, Congregation Meets Outside. This is why we have a First Amendment. And this is also why the Democrats are trying hard to water down or get rid of the First Amendment. Do not doubt for a minute that if they could, the Democrats would ban any sound biblical speech that they deemed "hateful." Which would be anything that ran counter to their latest narrative.
(05/27/2021) FRC, Barna band together to advance biblical worldview. Looks interesting - there's a link at the link. According to Barna, only 6% of Americans actually have a biblical worldview! This new project aims to improve that number.
(05/25/2021) Catholic Insiders Reveal Biden’s Secret – White House Scrambling. Apparently the White House is bringing in militant atheists as advisors on faith-based initiatives. I do hope that this isn't what is the general attitude of "devout Catholics."
(05/21/2021) Mefferd: Russell Moore now where he belongs – with evangelical libs. I have no feeling of loss. Anyone who thinks that CRT can contribute to interpreting Scripture does not belong in an evangelical denomination. The writing was on the wall - the SBC would almost certainly have booted him had he not bailed.
(05/18/2021) Promise Keepers 2021: A New Generation of Godly Men. I attended four PK events back in the 90's. Glad to see they are revving back up again.
(05/16/2021) Why Christianity And Critical Race Theory Cannot Coexist. I agree.
(05/11/2021) The First 'Transgender Bishop' Shows How Churches Abandon Christianity. I find it shocking and appalling just how many churches and denominations have decided that they are smarter and wiser than God Almighty. Did God really say what he clearly said? No, they declare. We know better. Satan has a lot of useful idiots to work with. Appeal to pride. And what can be more prideful than imagining oneself to be smarter and wiser than God?
(05/10/2021) Joe Biden Leaves God Out of the National Day of Prayer. I already posted an article on this, but this is definitely worth reading. Note: for the Left, a "devout" Christian is one whose politics override Scripture.
(05/06/2021) Biden Leaves God Out of His National Day of Prayer Proclamation. We have been assured by the MSM that Biden is a devout Catholic. Odd.
(05/03/2021) Revival: When God Steps Down From Heaven. We could use a lot of God right now.
(04/23/2021) America’s Achilles’ Heel: Powerless Sermons and Prayerless Churches. Sounds about right.
(04/15/2021) Bored with God — Complacency in the Midst of Chaos. I think it is fair to say that we (Christians) don't take the current state of affairs in America seriously enough, and we don't take God seriously enough to be begging for his help. Is God the only hope for America? I believe so.
(04/15/2021) John Piper’s Son Has Become a Bible-Bashing Tik-Tok Star. What Can We Learn? Plenty. One is that the world can be very enticing and we humans are extremely good at rationalizing our behavior. There are many other lessons, but one is that it only takes one Christian hypocrite to offset the good work of many faithful Christians. Some are just looking for one excuse and "hypocrites" is a favorite. Don't be that one.
(04/12/2021) Here is a three part series on discernment:
1 - Whatever Happened to Biblical Discernment?
(04/06/2021) Today’s Theological Heresies on Race and Climate. It is almost (but not quite) funny how those that attack Christianity have created their own religions, complete with heresies, confessions and more.
(04/05/2021) 3 Major Scientific Discoveries In The Past Century That Point To God. It is actually pretty remarkable the degree that many go to to deny the evidence of a designer / creator. Don' t believe your lying eyes, and if you don't like my explanation, I have others.
(04/04/2021) ‘This is a heresy’: Sen. Raphael Warnock – a reverend – reinterprets the meaning of Easter. So we have a Reverend and a pastor who definitely does not even qualify as a Christian - by helping others we are saved. Who knew?
(04/02/2021) Marco Rubio's Easter Week Bible Verse Triggers the Woke Mob. What is their gripe? Rubio can't be a man of God because he doesn't support the left-wing agenda! Answer me this: who is worshiping the creature and who is worshiping the Creator? We certainly are deeply in Romans 1 times.
(03/28/2021) No, The Growth of Progressive Christian Politicians is Not a Good Thing for America. For progressive Christians, it is their politics that inform their faith, not the Bible.
(03/28/2021) The Great Evangelical Error: ‘All I Need is the Bible.’ I'll simply say that when I study Scripture, I start by reading it and praying on it and writing down my thoughts. Not bad, eh? I might spend 15 minutes on a short passage. Then I check cross-references. They are Scripture, but someone put the information together so I could easily look them up. I check for context - lots of stuff based on the Bible but not in the Bible. Then I start digging into 2-3 commentaries. And I find there are so many things I didn't consider. Or that I couldn't consider because I wasn't reading in the original language. I'll settle for saying that If all I used was the Bible, I'd cut my study time to a fraction, and I'd also cut to a fraction to a fraction what I got out of that study. Forgive me for saying this, but the "all I need is the Bible" strikes me as the lazy man's cop out. Sort of like the preacher who doesn't prepare his sermons but just declares that he will be led by the Holy Spirit. Lazy is the first word that comes to mind.
(03/22/2021) United Methodist Church Promotes Hateful Propaganda Alleging Trump Supporters are KKK, Confederate-Supporting Racists. Nothing more Christian than falsely tearing down others in order to virtue signal. There are a lot of outright lies in what the UMC has printed.
(03/22/2021) Anti-Trump Beth Moore Leaves Southern Baptists, Goes Full-Blown Woke. I won't be as harsh as some critics, but I've never been a fan. She always struck me as superficial. I don't think she has gone full woke, but definitely semi-woke.
(03/20/2021) A Cold-Case Detective Interrogates The New Testament Eyewitnesses. This is an interview with J Warner Wallace only 10 minutes. It fascinated me enough that I immediately went and bought one of his books.
(03/16/2021) Noted Biblical Scholar Don Lemon Says God Not About Judging People. I hope the sarcasm is obvious.
(03/13/2021) A legacy of thousands, if not millions saved. Luis Palau dead at 86.
(03/10/2021) ‘In God We Trust?’ Good article.
(03/10/2021) Survey confirms it – God's Word brings hope in times of trouble. I don't think we need a survey to confirm this. The survey was done in the UK, which isn't exactly a hotbed of Christianity these days.
(03/09/2021) Vatican Papal Academy Sells Out the Virgin Mary for Muhammad. Yawn. More Christians selling out to accommodate Islam. Wake me up when Muslims decide to anything at all to accommodate Christians.
(03/05/2021) No Convictions, No Faith, No Worries: They Already Have Their Reward. This is in regard to the so-called evangelicals opposing "Christian nationalism." They also object to those who consider their action to be blessed by God. But should not Christians be trying to act in a manner that they will be so blessed?
(03/05/2021) The Christian Left: The New Referee of Morality? It is up to God to judge, but I sometimes wonder if the "Christian Left" even qualifies as Christian. They certainly qualify as Left and they certainly aren't very biblical.
(03/02/2021) This False ‘Evangelical’ Rebuke to White Evangelicals Needs Its Own Proper Rebuke. Suffice it to say that few, if any, of the 2000 signators actually qualify as evangelicals.
(03/02/2021) Millions of Methodists will go left – but millions more will be right. Paul pleaded for unity in the church. But unity has to begin with a commitment to the Word of God - the Bible. Sadly, some of our denominations, as well as local churches, are not so committed. Better to take a stand one way or the other. I suspect that those drifting away from Scripture will find their followers not a numerous as they imagine. The UMC will be an interesting test. But why wait? If your church does not preach biblical truth, leave. There are plenty of churches that do.
(02/28/2021) Southern Baptists expel two churches for sex abuse and two for affirming homosexuality. It is high time that the church stands up for biblical values and resists the negative influence of contemporary culture.
(02/22/2021) Must Christians Submit to Evil Authorities? Good question, but no.
(02/16/2021) Progressive Ideology and the Hijacking of the Christian Faith. Progressive politics are incompatible with biblical truth and hence with Christian faith. Read the article! The Left politicizes everything, and that includes Christianity. Here is an earlier article by the same authors that I must have missed: Pope Biden and the New Theocracy of the Christian Left.
(02/09/2021) Leftward drift deeply concerns this Southern Baptist pastor. Ditto. CRT, postmodernism and other cultural fads have no business in interpreting Scripture.
(02/07/2021) What Position Are You Called to Play? As Christians, we all have a position to play. And even if we are uncertain of any particular permanent position, we should be playing some position. Right now. Our own Pastor Paden preached this morning about getting out of the shallow water and into deeper waters. Far too many Christians have never ventured out of the shallows. There is no better time to start than now. Can you not imagine what our "team" could accomplish with God at the head and all pitching in?
(02/01/2021) To Christians Who Voted for Biden: Did You Not See This Coming? Well, there are Christians and there are faux Christians. And there are confused Christians, I suppose.
(02/01/2021) The West is reverting to paganism. I'm not sure it is paganism, but for many, government has taken on the role of God, and are worshiping the creatures (including themselves) rather than the Creator. And they not only ignore sin, they applaud it. Not good. We literally are in the process of throwing away Western Civilization, something built on the foundation of Christianity. WC has been one of the greatest blessings to mankind. And yet many have been indoctrinated in the notion that it is evil. Indeed, we are now proclaiming good to be evil, evil to be good, light to be darkness and darkness to be light. This may not be something new, but it has taken over most of our institutions, including much of the church. If you a a member of such a church / denomination, flee. Your financial support and mere presence only encourages them.
(01/31/2021) ‘Devout’ or ‘Extreme’: Media Treats Catholicism in Vastly Different Ways Depending on Politics. For the Left, religion is nothing but a tool to be used to promote their agenda. They politicize and pollute religion just like they do everything else.
(01/30/2021) Media’s 'Biden Is the Greatest Catholic Since Francis of Assisi' Narrative Is Not Going Well. No, but they will persist.
(01/30/2021) The Right Way: His Righteousness. The bulk of this article is actually from 2011, but it is definitely relevant today.
(01/30/2021) Evolutionists Are the True Creationists. You can quibble over terms, but this article is full of good stuff, including quoting some of my own oft quoted Scripture.
(01/30/2021) The Left Said Amy Coney Barrett’s Faith Made Her ‘Radical.’ Now, They Say Joe Biden’s Faith Makes Him ‘Devout.’ To be fair, the faith of one is genuine, the faith of the other, not so much. The Left will attack any faith that is soundly based in Scripture and they will glorify any "faith" that is soundly based in progressive politics. I sincerely doubt you can find a single counter example.
(01/26/2021) Biden spokeswoman refuses to answer abortion policy questions, whips out the 'devout Catholic' card instead. One thing we can be sure of is that a genuinely devout Catholic - one that opposes abortion - would be attacked, not defended, by the Democrats and the media. In fact, this is a general rule: the Left loves devout religious people - as long as said "religious" people have aligned their religion with left-wing politics. Those who have tried to align themselves with Scripture are going to be condemned by the Left as bigots and right-wing extremists.
(01/18/2021) Why a Biden Presidency Could Be Good for the Church. It is certainly possible that a lot of people will turn to God. But there is going to be (there already is) an attack on religious freedom. And some churches and Christians have already folded and surrendered. Let us not be among them. Rather, consider this to be the most opportune time for revival in our lifetimes.
(01/04/2021) Prayer to open the 117th Congress ends with ‘Amen and A-women.’ That is just silly nonsense. But as an ordained and serving pastor he also committed an apparent heresy by saying that God has many names (true) and many faiths (false). This article provides more details: Not the Onion: Democrat Ends Prayer With 'Amen. ... and A-Woman'
(01/01/2021) Kayleigh McEnany: I Wear a Cross Every Day Because My Christian Faith is “The Reason I’m Here.” I think it is important for all Christians to not be shy about declaring that they are Christians. It makes a statement, it encourages other Christians, it can lead to productive conversations. Don't be shy. And it is easy! See Easy Evangelism.
(01/01/2021) Forgetting what's behind, pressing forward in Christ. It is a new year. Make the most of it.
(12/29/2020) 'Christian Nationalism' Is the Left’s Latest Weapon for Excluding 74 Million Americans From the Public Square. I wonder when they will return to the old theocracy trope. But never forget - the objective of the Left is to get us to shut up. And sadly, we let them do it.
(12/25/2020) Hope, Family, Warm Traditions, And Our Redeemer: The Meaning Of Christmas In Our Hardest Years. In this year, of all years, let us not forget what Christmas is all about.
(12/25/2020) The First Christmas Eve: The Night Before the World Changed. Read it. Let us make sure that we worship the only God worthy of worship. This excludes worshiping self, which unbeknownst to many, is all the rage today.
(12/16/2020) Human Rights Campaign Wants Christian Schools to Abandon Beliefs or Lose Accreditation. Thomas Sowell has pointed out that everything is life involves trade-offs. It is always remarkable that when policies are advocated that benefit a group (in this case the LGBTxxx crowd) all the negative impacts on everyone else are totally ignored. And this is exactly how we continually implement bad public policy.
(12/15/2020) Washington Post: Joe Biden could redefine what it means to be ‘a Catholic in good standing.’ And what might that involve? Focusing on Catholic teaching that support liberal objectives and not focusing on teaching that does not. How convenient.
(12/12/2020) MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell: ‘We Can’t Live in Fear Anymore.’ Liddell says that there is a chance for the greatest revival in American history. I pray he is correct. Revival cannot occur without God's involvement, but it also can't occur without our involvement. Let's make sure we do our part. Don't wimp out on this! Whatever the "results" of the election, God can turn it to good.
(12/04/2020) Atheists Declare War on Operation Christmas Child. The problem is that the atheist organizations have a lot of money and those who they threaten often do not. As a result, those threatened often back down. The Freedom From Religion Foundation really needs to counter sued - for making threats. Until they are hit in the pocketbook - and big - they will continue their intimidation tactics.
(12/03/2020) ‘Evangelicals Are More Involved in Politics Than in the Work and Purpose of Jesus Christ’ — Appearance or Reality? Appearance, and not really even that. Because polls show that evangelicals heavily support Trump, we are declared to be heavily involved in politics. Sad to say, we aren't nearly as involved as we should be, though politics will always play second fiddle to ministry. Very few who criticize evangelicals for being political have ever set foot in an evangelical church, much less been involved in one.
(11/23/2020) How The Bible Inspired The American Founding From The Beginning. Yes, it did.
(11/18/2020) Rev. Graham Scolds CNN's Jake Tapper: Despite Your Gloom, Christmas Will Be Celebrated Around the World. Indeed.
(11/12/2020) But God. Whatever the outcome of the election and our political situation, we have to remember these two words. God really is in control.
(10/15/2020) We Have Forgotten God. Have we forgotten? Many have never known him, others deliberately ignore him. But the end result is the same - a nation in deep, deep trouble.
(09/25/2020) Permission for Pastors to Preach About Politics. This is an excellent article. Sadly, most pastors avoid politics, even though they have a huge impact on our lives and lives of those around us. And the Constitution says absolutely nothing about "separation of church and state," nor does the Bible. However, under the Constitution, no theocracy could be established, either, despite claims from the Left that that is what we on the Right want do do.
(09/25/2020) We Can’t Make America Great Without God. Agreed.
(09/20/2020) Jim Caviezel Rebukes Christian Fence-Sitters in Inspired Interview. And so we should be rebuked.
(09/03/2020) McFarland knocks liberal drift of Christianity Today. Apparently the same is true for Wheaton College.
(08/15/2020) What Is Truth? Well, it isn't the answer that many want to hear, but Christ came to be a witness to the truth.
(08/09/2020) Netflix’s ‘Cursed’ Portrays Christianity One Way; This Tale Portrays It Another. The author makes a good point. We Christians (me, too!) are doing a lot of complaining nowadays, and to be fair, there is a lot worth complaining about. But what positive things are we doing? Should we just be griping about all the bad going on, or should we be trying to do some positive good in response? The answer is obvious.
(08/09/2020) 10 Key Takeaways from ‘Evangelicals for Trump’ Gathering in Las Vegas. This is more really good stuff. The question is really not whether evangelicals should support Trump We do. A recent survey had Trump's evangelical support at 94%, though that is probably high. The real question should be, what are we supporters going to do? The time for silence is past. If committed Christians won't speak up against the moral decay in our country and in favor of revival and a turning back to God, who is going to? This article ends with a story of a father taking his young daughter to a holocaust museum. Afterwards, she asked "Daddy, why didn't somebody do something?" Don't let that question be asked of us.
(08/08/2020) Letter to an Anti-Trump Christian Friend. Why do well over 80% of evangelicals support President Trump? This letter explains it more clearly than most of us are capable of doing for ourselves. It is long, but well worth reading. The real question is, how can any evangelicals support the Democrats (from Biden on down the line) given the policies they are advocating and the behavior (the "cancel culture," violent "protests") they are condoning?
(08/05/2020) Our Evangelical Forebears’ Two Big Mistakes. What are those mistakes? Focusing on making converts rather than making disciples. And allowing us to divide our lives into the secular and the sacred. How many converts aren't really converts at all? We are called to make disciples. And how many think they can separate their lives into a "Christian" portion, and an everything else portion? We can't redo the past, but we can surely do better moving forward.
(08/05/2020) Minus a spiritual revival, say adios to patriotism: apologist. Well, we certainly need revival. And we need to restore America to shining city on a hill status. And the best way to do that? Revival. Revival is a two-fer.
(08/04/2020) Obama Cites God: “As the Lord Instructed Paul, ‘Do Not Be Afraid, Go on Speaking; Do Not Be Silent, For I Am With You’.” I rather think that Paul was speaking God's truth. I don't think this Scripture applies to spouting the progressive narrative.
(08/04/2020) Fauci Attacks Church Choirs, Implies Worship Is Less Important Than Protests. Good grief. There is no way Fauci doesn't have an agenda.
(08/04/2020) 'Silent shepherds' sending subliminal messages. Few pastors are willing to speak about the current issues of the day from the pulpit - according to Barna, 90% are unwilling. Perhaps they fear losing tax exempt status. Maybe they are concerned about offending some in the congregation. But the message they are sending is that Scripture has nothing to say about the important issues of the day. Scripture is not relevant! Is that the message they wish to send?
(08/01/2020) Revival Begins Here. Alas, I'm not sure we have reached a state where we are ready for revival. I pray that we have, however.
(07/25/2020) Why is Jesus Such a ‘Colossal Fail’? If there is one thing in common among those that argue that Christianity cannot be true, it is that they are simply ignorant about the claims of Christiainity. It is pretty easy to shoot down a straw man of your own creation, and that is what they do.
(07/24/2020) Why I Have Faith in Jesus: An Open Letter to Billie Eilish. This is good, not that I know anything about Billie Eilish. One of the biggest lies that has been promulgated is that there are many paths to God and to saving faith. Given that most of the "paths" are in conflict and contradiction with each other, this simply cannot be true. It may be comforting to think that your own "path" is just as good as any other, but that doesn't mean it is going to take you to your desired destination.
(07/21/2020) Betrayal From Within: “Woke” Christian leaders persecute the faithful. Sad but true. Far too many Christian leaders' allegiance is to culture, not to Scripture.
(07/20/2020) When It Feels Like the World is Collapsing Around Us. Well, it certainly feels like it. But I still believe that in the not too distant future, we are going to look bask and see how God used it for good. Related: The Cancel Culture Is Losing Its Mind.
(07/19/2020) Churches Under Attack. Yes, they are. There have been several arson attacks as well as quite a lot of church vandalism. Aside from political opposition, two major institutions stand in the way of the progressive dream for America - the family and the church. It is a tragedy that so many in the church fail to recognize this!
(07/06/2020) Godless BLM Protest Mob Targets NY Church – Attacks Christians on Church Steps, Including Mother with Baby, Shouts Down Pastor Screaming “Black Lives Matter” During Sermon. The mob is after the church as well. Do not be fooled into appeasing; the demands will never, never end if you do.
(07/06/2020) American Christians Should Focus on the Cross, Not on Cultural Identity. Good article.
(07/01/2020) There is no question that many of our "leaders" and media types are extremely anti-Christian. Here are a couple examples: Chris Cuomo Uses CNN Soapbox to Tell Americans They Don’t Need God and St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones Labels Catholic Prayer Rally a KKK Meeting – Then Three St. Louis Christians Beaten, One Knocked Out by Leftist and Kicked in the Head.