Apologetics, Atheism, Debate, Mp3s, Philosophy, Promotionals, Theology, Videos

Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?

Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?

Stan Guthrie moderates a Christian Book Expo panel with Lee Strobel, William Lane Craig, Douglas Wilson, Christopher Hitchens, and Jim Denison.

The New Atheists usually make two charges against Christianity: (1) that it is untrue and (2) that it is harmful. A panel of apologetics experts responds to an atheist critic with evidence from Scripture, science, and history about why the faith is both reasonable and good for the world. Christianity Today’s Stan Guthrie moderated this panel on March 21, 2009 for the Christian Book Expo in Dallas.

Go to the link above to watch the video recording of the event. Here is a link to download the audio in mp3. This is a really good discussion panel and everyone did a great job, even Christopher Hitchens. I can only pray and hope that one day God will save Christopher so that his name will finally be fulfilled.

Culture News, Current Events, History, Law and Faith, Politics, Roman Catholicism, Sacraments, Theology

Culture News: D.C.-Area Bishops To Enforce Communion Ban On Sebelius

Well, I cannot say that this is not relevant to our nations current historical setting. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this is going to be a very important moment in the coming culture shift that grows stronger every day that newly appointed secularists and anti-Christs are confirmed into the Government’s leading ranks.

Here is the news story from The Bulletin:

Two Washington, D.C.-area Catholic bishops have instructed Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, D-Kan., President Barack Obama’s pick to Be Secretary Of Health and Human Services, to refrain from receiving Holy Communion on account of her stances on human-life issues such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research.

This comes as Ms. Sebelius undergoes Senate confirmation hearings before the Committee on on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

In May 2008, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kan. told Ms. Sebelius that she should not present herself to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. Last week, Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. and Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington, Va., both said that they would enforce Archbishop Naumann’s orders while Ms. Sebelius is in their respective dioceses.

Ms. Sebelius ran afoul of Catholic leaders for her strident support of abortion. She has been connected with late-term abortionist Geroge Tiller, who was found not guilty of violating Kansas’ late-term abortion laws at a trial earlier this week. Dr. Tiller still faces an investigation that could strip him of his medical license.

Ms. Sebelius was asked to refrain from the Eucharist in accordance with Canon 915 of the Catholic Code of Canon Law. According to that Canon, “those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”

[HT: In Light of the Gospel]

Books, Promotionals

2009 Christian Book Award Winners!

You can get the books from our ministry book store here or by clicking on the tab “bookstore” at the top of the web page.

From Christianity Today:

cba-medallion

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association is pleased to announce the Christian Book Award Winners for 2009, honoring the year’s finest in Christian publishing. Since 1978 the Christian Book Awards (formerly the Gold Medallion Awards) have awarded excellence in six categories: Bibles, Bible Reference & Study, Children & Youth, Inspiration & Gift, Christian Life, and Fiction.

Five finalists are selected in each category following a stringent judging process by judging panels specially selected for each category. Each title is evaluated and scored based on category-specific criteria such as content, literary quality, design and impact. The top scoring book in each category is named the Christian Book Award winner. The Christian Book of the Year is chosen among the finalists based on its overall impact on the consumer as measured by sales.

The Christian Book Award winners and Christian Book of the Year were announced at the Christian Book Expo in Dallas, Texas, on March 19th.

Biblical Theology, Church Year, Eschatology, New Testament Theology, Promotionals, Reforming, Systematic Theology, Theology

Peter Leithart: Keep the Fast, Keep the Feast

James Grant says:

I just finished reading Peter Leithart’s article “Keep the Fast, Keep the Feast,” posted at First Things. This is quite an amazing piece of work. Leithart has some helpful points reflecting on both church history and Scriptures, and he provides some great examples of how to do biblical-theological interpretation. Leithart blogs here, and he pointed out that the article is already translated into German! Take a moment and read the whole thing (in English, of course!).

Also, read the following excerpt from the article at least:

Jesus is the Last Adam because He keeps the fast. He enters a world that is no longer a garden, but a howling waste, and in that wilderness Satan tempts Him to break the fast, to be an Adam: “You’re hungry; eat this now. You deserve the accolades of the crowds; you can have it now if you jump off the temple. You want all authority in heaven and on earth, but your Father won’t give that to you unless you suffer an excruciating, shameful death; you can have it all now, no cross or self-denial required. It’s yours, and you only need to do a bit of bowing. Life, glory, power, everything you want, everything you deserve—you can have it all now.”

Jesus refused, and refused, and then refused again, and in so doing broke the power of Adamic sin. Jesus kept the fast; he waited, labored, suffered, died, and then opened his hand to receive all the life, glory, honor, authority, and dominion that his Father had to give Him. He kept the fast and as a result was admitted to the fullness of the kingdom’s feast—because by that time both it and he were ready. And by resisting the devil, Jesus sets the pattern of true fasting and reveals a Lenten way of life.

[Continue Reading…]

Church Fathers, Church Year, Ecclesiology, Evangelism, History, Prayer, Promotionals, Theology

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day

patrick

In honor of the great missionary and pastor, commonly known as “St. Patrick”, I would like to encourage you all to take a moment sometime today and read about his life. Below are a few articles to choose from, but I highly recommend the one by Mark Driscoll called Vintage Saints: Saint Patrick. Here is an excerpt from that article:

Technically, Saint Patrick is not even a saint, as he was never canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Additionally, Patrick was not even Irish. Rather, he was an Englishman who was a Roman citizen that spoke Latin and a bit of Welsh.

Patrick was born around 390 A.D. When he was roughly 16 years of age he was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland on a ship where he was sold into slavery. He spent the next six years alone in the wilderness as a shepherd for his masters’ cattle and sheep. [Continue Reading…]

Here are the other articles:

Culture, Current Events, Debate, History, Law and Faith, Politics

Obama’s Attack on Medical Civil Liberties

Here is a disturbing list of things that President Obama has already done since he’s been in office for under 3 months (by Newt Gingrich and Rick Tyler):

  • Efforts to roll back freedom of conscience protections are only the latest in a series of aggressive actions that demonstrate intolerance for those whose conscience is convicted in support of a culture of life:
  • In the first month of his presidency, Obama reversed the established Mexico City policy that kept taxpayer money from being used by international organizations for abortions as a method of family planning protecting millions of American from paying for a procedure that they find morally objectionable.
  • Last week, the President unilaterally lifted embryonic-stem-cell research restrictions.
  • In the President’s recent healthcare summit, groups that support abortion were invited but pro-life groups with a stake in healthcare were excluded.
  • With the President’s support, Congress recently approved $50 million in funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). UNFPA is complicit in China’s unspeakably cruel one-child enforcement policy, which employs forced abortion and sterilization.
  • The President’s nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be the new Secretary of Health and Human Services prompted George Weigel who leads Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center to question whether “conscience-rights protection for pro-life physicians and health-care workers [will] be sustained, amended, or eliminated.”
  • In February, the Administration decided that it would no longer extend hiring protections to faith-based organizations but would instead review on a “case-by-case basis.

. . . . . . .

Yet, the most hostile assault against the civil liberties in the medical profession may be yet to come.

In 2007, Obama promised a Planned Parenthood gathering on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade that, as president, he would sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). If enacted, FOCA would repeal all federal and state restrictions on abortion including the ban on partial-birth abortion. FOCA would force all public hospitals and health programs offering maternity services to provide abortions. Moreover, provisions in state constitutions that protect speech and the free exercise of religion of those whose conscience is opposed to abortion could be invalidated.

Having no reason to believe that President Obama will not fulfill this radical campaign pledge, some Catholic bishops are talking openly about engaging in civil disobedience to protect Catholic hospitals and their doctors from being forced to perform abortions.

The chilling effect of the Obama administration forcing doctors and nurses to choose between their losing their careers and being compelled to participate in abortions against their moral and religious belief is incalculable. Not only will pro-life doctors and nurses be driven from the professions, but patients will lose the ability to choose doctors who reflect their own religious and moral convictions, doctors who now help them to make healthcare choices based upon them.

The fact is, there are doctors and nurses who have no moral objection to abortion. Why then, should some medical professionals be compelled to do something that compromises their conscience? It is one thing to hold fast to the pro-abortion position as a matter of a personal opinion, it is quite another to force someone else to compromise their moral integrity.

Now the clock is ticking on the thirty-day review and public feedback period where public opinion might change the administration’s direction toward religious freedom. Let’s hope. [Continue Reading…]

Culture News, Current Events, Law and Faith, Politics, Prayer Requests

Culture News: NC Judge’s decision threatens homeschoolers everywhere

From the Evangelical Examiner:

Many Christian families homeschool their kids all over the United States. Each state has different rules about homeschooling and the curriculum, what is happening in North Carolina is downright assault against all homeschoolers everywhere. On top of that, most homeschooled kids will far exceed Publicly Educated kids by wide margins when it comes to test scores.

Venessa Mills is fighting a legal battle for the heart and soul of homeschooling in North Carolina. As reported on World Net Daily, on Friday, March 6, Judge Ned W. Mangum stripped her of the right to homeschool, and ordered her three children to enter public school.

The Mills children; in testing, are as much as two years ahead of Publicly Schooled children of the same age. But even with abundant evidence showing the Mills children are well adjusted and well educated, Judge Mangum ruled overwhelmingly against Mrs. Mills on every point. Judge Mangum was unwilling to look at statistics and the children’s records in an unbiased way. A simple fact is that ‘most’ homeschooled children do much better than any Publicly schooled child.

When issuing his verdict Judge Mangum stated his decision was not ideologically or religiously motivated. However, he told Mrs. Mills public school will “challenge the ideas you’ve taught them.” In other words, Judge Mangum is a liberal judge who wants to retrain the children in a way that they succumb to the ways and teachings of “government”

What has emerged is a picture of a clearly liberal judge imposing his beliefs and striking down traditional values. Mangum, a Democrat appointee, disregarded the facts of the case in favor of his own agenda. Such anti-conservative prejudice is increasingly legislated from the bench, and appears to be encouraged by the Democratic Obama administration.  It’s just another way that Judge’s impose their Social Engineering on people.

On March 24th lawmakers in North Carolina will be reminded of the sheer numbers of homeschoolers in their state. As students and their parents descend on the capitol, organizers of the Capital Fest 2009 field trip will show they have a voice in North Carolina legislation regarding education.

Homeschoolers from across the nation are asked to fight back to defend their rights as Americans to educate their children. Many feel that the judge has been given a free hand to impose his personal opinions and needs to reexamine his decisions. You can find more information on how to participate at HSinjustice.com.

[HT: Paul Jones]

Culture News, Current Events, Debate, Law and Faith, Politics

Culture News: Ban Marriage in California… that will solve everything!

Prop. 8 Opponents Begin Effort to Strike ‘Marriage’ from Calif. Law

By Lawrence Jones
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Mar. 11 2009 08:19 AM EDT

Proposition 8 opponents received permission Tuesday from the California Secretary of State’s office to begin collecting petition signatures toward a repeal of the state’s same-sex marriage ban.

The initiative would side step the issue of same-sex marriage by making all couples eligible for marriage benefits regardless of their sexual orientation. If approved, the initiative would strike the word “marriage” from all state laws and replace it with the term “domestic partnership.”

The measure would also repeal Proposition 8, California’s constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown submitted the official title and summary for the measure on Monday, about a week after the state Supreme Court heard arguments challenging the validity of Proposition 8.

The official and title summary for the measure is as follows:

Substitutes Domestic Partnership for Marriage in California Law. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.
Replaces the term “marriage” with the term “domestic partnership” throughout California law, but preserves the rights provided in marriage. Applies equally to all couples, regardless of sexual orientation. Repeals the provision in California’s Constitution that states only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

The proponents of the measure are two Southern California college students, Kaelan Housewright and Ali Shams. They must collect around 695,000 signatures, or 8 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2006 gubernatorial election, by August 6 in order to qualify for the 2010 ballot…

[Continue Reading…]

Apologetics, Culture, Current Events, Debate, Denominations, Politics, Pop Christianity, Reforming

The Coming Evangelical Collapse

Michael Spencer has a very provocative article that was published in the March 10th edition of the Christian Science Monitor. I encourage you all to read it. Here is an important excerpt:

WHY IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN?

1. Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake. Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress. Public leaders will consider us bad for America, bad for education, bad for children, and bad for society.

The evangelical investment in moral, social, and political issues has depleted our resources and exposed our weaknesses. Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can’t articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we’ve spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures.

3. There are three kinds of evangelical churches today: consumer-driven megachurches, dying churches, and new churches whose future is fragile. Denominations will shrink, even vanish, while fewer and fewer evangelical churches will survive and thrive.

4. Despite some very successful developments in the past 25 years, Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism. Evangelicalism has used its educational system primarily to staff its own needs and talk to itself.

5. The confrontation between cultural secularism and the faith at the core of evangelical efforts to “do good” is rapidly approaching. We will soon see that the good Evangelicals want to do will be viewed as bad by so many, and much of that work will not be done. Look for ministries to take on a less and less distinctively Christian face in order to survive.

6. Even in areas where Evangelicals imagine themselves strong (like the Bible Belt), we will find a great inability to pass on to our children a vital evangelical confidence in the Bible and the importance of the faith.

7. The money will dry up.

[Continue Reading…]

Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."

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