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05-22-04 - Evolution's Victory: Public Schools

Vanity of Vanities says the preacher! Solomon's utterance reminds me of the Evolutionist's futile attempt to establish any biological link between humans and animals. Recently, a scientific study was done to establish that humans and chimpanzees belong to the same genus. The study concluded that there was a sequence identity of 99.4%. However, Dr. Fuz Rana states that "Genetic comparison is not the sole criterion for biological classification," furthermore he writes that, " Humans and chimpanzees have obvious anatomical, physiological, behavioral, and cultural differences that serve as the basis for their assignments to separate genera." Of course, these facts will never be provided in a system that prides in the non-existence of an intelligent designer. Granted, their success in public schools is a small victory to their malicious agendas.

Recently, "The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) may consider a resolution next month urging parents to pull their children out of public schools and educate them either by home schooling or sending them to Christian private schools (link to article). "Can you imagine the reaction of the secularists when they began to lose the children of Southern Baptist parents? Note that we are dealing with the largest Christian denomination in the country. This would be a devastating blow to the secularists. One wonders what took the SBC so long... but however long they took.. KUDOS to them. When all Christians come to that realization, then evolutionists will have the only victory they're entitled to, their Public Schools.

05-20-04 - Hey there. Not much time to write today but I can recommend some good reading if you are interested. I am currently working my way through Keith Matthison's book: "Postmillenialism, An Eschatology Of Hope." Keith has done an outstanding job in laying the theological and exegetical foundation for an eschatology commonly misundertood. Well, what are you waiting for, Tolle Lege!

05-19-04 - Nota bene

The prevailing thought in modern evangelicalism is that Christianity is impotent. By this is meant that the church has failed and will continue to fail in its mission. Well, with thoughts like these who needs encouragement. This theological and miserable quandary facing the church today is a result of at least three failures:

1) Pessimism - This sentiment which has showered the church leaves no room for active reform. In the words of a preacher, "If the ship is sinking, why polish the brass." Pessimism is attractive to modern evangelicalism because it helps us do what we do best in the church - nothing!

2) Theology in second place - This is self-evident in the lack of serious exegesis in the church. In other words, if your minister has not gone through any books in the Bible in any depth for at least two years...perhaps you need to find another source of nourishment or has theology taken a second place in your life as well?

3) Let's just love Jesus mentality - This attitude makes a mockery of the gospel. Think about it, how can you claim to love Jesus if you don't know the richness of his passive and active obedience, his substitutionary work on the cross, his incarnation, his kingship, his priesthood, and so much more. The life of Christ is diminished when his works are not explored.

So, I leave you with three failures. Does this describe your church?

05-18-04 -Topic: Paul, rewritten and revised for the homosexual agenda.

I, Paul, an apostle of Christ, have handed to you a message of great relevance. I know that there is immorality, adultery, incest, and bestiality being practiced among you. I have told you that you became fools, and changed the glory of God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and four-footed animals annd creeping things. Furthermore, you have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. How shameful I am of you! But this one thing I must say for your benefit or at least for the benefit of those who will follow your footsteps in future generations, perhaps 20 centuries from now. Well, I've been thinking and though the Spirit has made clear that this message is relevant for you today and that you are sure to suffer the punishment for your lifestyles, the truth is, this message will not be a norm for every generation. Well, from what I understand, there will be a time when people will despise these words and think of it as a cultural fad. Though all I have said in this letter is worthy of fear and trepidation, be encouraged; the relevance of my words will fade eventually and the punishments I described for your behavior will no longer be applicable. As for you, abandon your evil ways lest God harden your hearts forever. -- The Gospel of Romans according to 21st century Post-Modern Homosexuals

05-12-04 - Recently in a chat channel I was asked a question regarding the controversial topic of creationism. We all agreed that God did it ex-nihilo, but how He did it was the question at stake. Some opted to not deal with the issue since it causes disaccord within the body of Christ. My approach as always is the "let's tackle it" attitude. Though at times this attitude bears little if no fruit, I have found throughout the last few years to be the only remedy to theological naivete. My reasons for such approach are at least two. The first and most important reason is that certain questions are at times of great importance to the enquirer. Though many will find specific questions rather simplistic and unworthy of dialoguing, the questioner may find it extremely complex and of utter significance. Secondly, this approach has great benefits to the apologist who is learning to answer and tackle new issues. For the young apologist who has not encountered a question in which he is not able to answer (if this is the case you probably need to join a chat channel), if the day ever arrives you may have to steep low and respond with a simple " I don't know, but I will get back to you." I know... I know... that sounds like admitting you never memorized John 3:16, but believe me, there are worse things in life. In this matter, it is fundamentally essential that the apologist not attempt to give a vague or uncertain answer. Remember, the approach "let's tackle it" implies a passion to answer truthfully but also a humility to say "let's learn together." The wise theologian is not praised for his answers but for the spirit in which he answers. As for the question on creation... let's tackle it... just not right now.

05-06-04 - One of Calvin's greatest students was a man named John Knox. Knox's bleeding cry was that the Reformation would inundate so powerfully Scotland that men would humble themselves and submit to God. With John Knox's great passion for the Reformation, came Presbyerianism. Knox is considered by many the Father of Presbyterianism. The term is derived from the greek word "presbuteros," meaning elder. The book of Acts establishes convincingly the plurality of church leaders. In Timothy, Paul gives a carefully selected list which is not a mere blissful collection of characteristics found in everyone, rather it is found in few. The overseer (the elder) is divinely gifted and because he is gifted he desires a noble task ( I Tim. 3:1). Once again we're drawn back to the richness of God's gifts in Christ. The wonder of it all is that even those whom He has called He equips fully for His service. The minister of the gospel takes upon himself an infinitely holy task to proclaim the majesty of an infinitely Holy God. John Knox fulfilled this task when he prayed: "Great God, Give me Scotland or I die." He was consumed with love for the gospel, the same gospel that set the captives free in Scotland. Knox did not fear men nor what they said, but his sole desire was to live for his mission. Upon his death the king of Scotland said of Knox: "Would-be" preachers, take heed to those words. May they be said of you when you come, at last, to the end of your pilgrimage: "Here lies a man that never feared the face of man."

04-17-04 "The Passion" - For most of us who have seen "The Passion" once or like myself who have seen it twice, we come out of the theatres with many pertinent questions regarding the last twelve hours of our Lord. The film is based upon a famous clinical investigation of Roman crucifixion and punishment, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 1986. In light of that despicably sorrowful description of our Lord's body (for those who have read it will understand what I mean) , the question arises, could Jesus have suffered so much and still live as a human and endure until Calvary?

Let me disenchant one of the common responses to this question. The answer is usually that our Lord was able to endure so much pain because He was divine, therefore, he was able to suffer to such an extent due to His "divine resistance." However, this answer is utterly unsatisfactory. First, because Christ made himself of no reputation (Phil. 2), and submitted His will to the will of the Father.

In the words of Church Historian Phillip Schaff: " It must be recognized that there is a balance to be maintained between the deity and the humanity of Christ. Neither can be slighted in the least. Some have diminished the deity of Christ even to the point of making Him nothing but a man. This is wrong. He was fully divine. On the other hand, some are reluctant to give to Him everything His humanity implies. This too is wrong. He was fully human..." He proceeds by defining the event of Christ's suffering with these words;

"As the death of Jesus is nothing to men without His resurrection, so His deity is of no avail to men without His humanity. It took One who had been with both God and man to adequately reveal God to man (Jn. 1:18; 14:9). Jesus became God in human flesh so that He might explain God to man in terms man could understand. Moreover, it was the offering of the body (emphasis mine) of Jesus which served to sanctify men (Heb. 10:10). Without partaking of humanity, Jesus would not have been perfected (Heb. 5:8,9; 2:10). Through His death He rendered the devil powerless (Heb. 2:14). In order to be a high priest and also be able to make propitiation for sins, He had to be made like His brethren (Heb. 2:17). Since, He was also human, He can identify with mankind and help and understand them (Heb. 2:18; 4:1416), and knowing that Jesus had to endure the afflictions common to all men, those in human flesh can take courage."

While the Son abandoned the independent use of His power, he nevertheless maintained the use of divine power according to the Father's command. No Orthodox believer denies this truth. But the question is to when He uses it and to what purpose. He lived solely as a human on earth, but for conspicuous reasons He revealed the power give to Him by the Father. We see the miracles as one clear example of such demonstrations of His power for the sole purpose of proving that He was the Christ, the anointed One - the One directly sent from God. Secondly, Christ came and lived as one of us. He himself willingly desired to rescue His own by condescending as a man of low estate (Isa.53). He suffers pain, he thirsts, he cries and so on. The central theme especially of the book of Hebrews is that He went through every conceivable form of temptation that we have gone through, but yet knew no sin. At the same time he sympathizes with us because He was like us. Moreover, all will admit that we are not divine. Thirdly, following the two previous points, He endured the suffering as a man. It is a dangerous thing to unite his suffering to divinity rather than solely His humanity. There is time for both in His death. I do not deny that Mel Gibson's portrayal of Jesus' suffering may have been too extreme (though some evangelicals do not want to admit such), but the reality is that no human being could endure such blood loss, trauma, injuries and a host of other inflictions and live for that long as Gibson portrays. Here, it is important to note that this writer believes firmly that Jesus' suffering was severe and brutal, but I wish not to overstate the case to make my point. Finally, in response to the claim that Jesus endured so much pain because He was also divine, I submit that the death of Christ had dual punishing forces. One, the forces of this world, i.e. the Roman brutality and two, God's divine punishment on His dear Son. Conclusion: The Son suffered for the sins of His people physically to a great extent, but an extent that a human could endure until the cross (though horrific in proportion). But also, the Son's greater suffering is that wrought by the Father. Indeed, His own Father turned His back on His son showing divine disapproval of sin, but yet fulfilling the redemptive process, thereby liberating and setting free the captives. It is proper to say that Jesus suffered both in his humanity on earth and in His divinity as He faced the wrath of God on the cross. Keeping His humanity with his physical suffering and His divinity with His spiritual suffering will aid in avoiding distortions of the death of our Lord. Hence, one must never forget that both the suffering and wrath poured on our Lord was a work done by the Almighty decree of God for the remission of sin for those who would believe.

04-08-04 - (Part II) Yesterday we saw the tremendous implications of I John 4:2-3. That is, if he came in the flesh then it is clearly implied that he remained as such until his ascension and even now at the Father's right hand as our great High Priest. In order to further demonstrate the Biblical data for this fundamental doctrine of the Orthodox faith I have reproduced a paragraph from a fascinating article written over a decade ago by Norman Geisler defending the resurrection of our Lord's body. He writes for the 1989 edition of the Christian Research Journal.

Geisler writes: The Christian church has from the beginning confessed that the same physical body of flesh that was laid in Jesus' tomb was raised immortal. This belief is based on several explicit New Testament references and extensive tangible evidence. Jesus himself said His resurrection body was one of "flesh and bones" ( Luke 24:39;cf. 13:37). Speaking of the resurrection of Christ, Peter insisted that His "flesh did not see corruption" ( Acts 2:31)... The body that emerged from the tomb on Easter morning was seen (Matthew 28:17), heard (John 20:15-16), and even touched ( Matthew 28:9) on many occasions after the Resurrection. Moreover, Jesus ate food at least four times after the Resurrection (Luke 24:30; 24;42-43; John 21:12-13; Acts 1:4). He also showed His crucifixion scars on two occasions, once challenging doubting Thomas: " Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe (John 20:27)."

04-07-04 - (Part I) Part of the historical creed of the church particularly expressed in the Apostle's Creed (a creed that has been recited for centuries in the Church) has been that, " We believe in the Rerurrection of the body." Today, liberal theology has attempted to discredit this claim by denying the resurrection of Jesus' body. Besides the many translation distortions in the New World Translation (used by Jehovah's Witnesses) to twist and pervert Holy Writ, the church has long denied such claims and stood with the Scriptures. One devastating critique of this form of teaching comes from the apostle John's writing after Christ's resurrection. In First John 4:2 he tells us how we may identify the true and genuine Spirit; " This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." In verse 3 we read the obvious contrast, " but those who do not acknowledge Jesus is not of the Spirit." This remarkable Apostolic test assures liberalism and every form of 1st to 21st century manifestation of this heresy that they are unmistakably unorthodox in every sense of the word. He has indeed come in flesh and was raised in the flesh as well. May we celebrate this Easter that He is the risen One who has conquered death and was raised victoriously in body and spirit!

04-02-04 - In Clement's (Clement was an Ante-Nicene Church Father) First Epistle to the Romans he writes: " Who did not rejoice over your perfect and well-grounded knowledge (1:4)? Though not an inspired Epistle like St. Paul's to the Romans, Clement raises the question of intellectual nobility found in some in the church of Rome. Their knowledge was "perfect" in that it reflected a mature mind. They rested in the Word of God. But beyond a mature mind, they possessed "well-grounded knowledge." This was foundational to their faith. They were prepared to give an answer to all who opposed their beloved Savior. It was well-grounded because Christ was their foundation. The believers in Rome in the first two centuries represent an accurate portrait of those who have truly "tasted of the goodness of the word of God (Hebrews 6:5)" and have feasted in its knowledge.

03-31-04 - A couple of days ago I had a short but insightful discussion with an atheist on-line. Believe it or not this Atheist gave me an amazing indication of the truth of Paul's words in Romans 1. This atheist's argument was that, " if there is such a god, then he controls all things, he rules all things and controls even our actions." To that, this atheist said he could not accept nor submit. He needed his libertarian freedom to maintain his so-called "humanness." Once again, Paul's words in Romans come strinkingly clear. Paul says the unregenerate are "without excuse." Why? Because they know that the God of creation is indeed Sovereign and He reigns even over atheism!

03-27-2004 - One of my favorite R.C. Sproul books is entitled: " Saved From What?" Perhaps some of you if ever asked that question would respond by saying, " I am saved from hell! After all isn't salvation a ticket to heaven." Well, I become almost embarrassed when I hear believers say such things. I am always tempted to inform them that there is something even worse than hell, and that is the wrath of God. Yes, the wrath of God! The Scriptures speaks both in Old and New Testaments of this reality. The wrath is the only thing that will forever follow the reprobate. It is here on earth, while he/she is still yet alive and will follow him/her throughout all eternity. The Psalmist puts it this way, "Though I make my bed in Sheol you are there." Believe it or not the omnipresence of God goes even to the depths of Hell itself. So, what are you saved from?

03-09-04 One issue I have always been intrigued with is the philosophical dilemma that exists for the Christian in the realm of social issues. By that I simply mean the question of political involvement. Should a Christian abandon the realm of sacred duty and delve himself into that which is secular and corrupt? Perhaps the following article on the Christian and Culture is helpful in easing that tension.
Politics today finds itself in great disarray not because it is divisive or controversial but because of its very nature. Politics, although plural in form, takes a singular verb when used to refer to the art or science of governing or to political science: Politics has been a concern of philosophers since Plato. Plato himself developed with audacity the concept of political theory to be used centuries later by politicians from all arena.
The interesting characteristic of politics is that it belongs to God since it is in God's world and has in many countries been used for the advancement of Christ's "basileia." All forms of it, whether it be conservative or liberal have a divine touch to it. So, next time you consider not voting for office, consider the fact that political involvement is kingdom business.
Blog Greek word: BASILEIA - This term in its primary meaning refers to "kingdom" but it has also the conotation of sovereignty, royal power, or dominion.