This welcome to country has no place in Christianity
Many conservative Catholics are deeply concerned with a moment of unfettered pagan idolatry at their Youth Festival in Perth in recent days. I recently interviewed Mark Powell about his article regarding the use of indigenous protocols in Christian services and events and the danger of mixing Aboriginal religion with worship of the One True God. Little did we know such an explosive example of the worst kind I have ever seen would happen so soon following our discussion. This wasn’t at a government or secular event where ignorant obeisance to political correctness can be expected and maybe even suffered in silence…
Love: I do not think it means what you think it means
Those of you who were correctly raised will remember watching the Princess Bride (if truly correctly then many times), a movie that despite all of its ridiculousness is one of the most classic fantasy love tales ever told. You may also recall how Vizzini the scheming kidnapper keeps describing situations involving the witty hero Westley that is happening before his eyes as ‘inconceivable’. Eventually, the honourable and loveable Inigo Montoya eventually says ‘You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.’ Ah, how classic, such a fun movie, but oh what a great…
What is the Christian to make of natural disasters?
Some readers may have struggled with the drought for years, and now, especially in NSW and Queensland, may be confronted with the more immediate threat of fire. Television brings the story to the wider population, but it tends to have a deadening effect too. To watch uncontrolled fire for a minute, then sit through an advertisement for something one does not need, and then, worse, have to endure an ad for Bride and Prejudice, would desensitise anyone’s moral sensibilities. Given all that, what is the Christian to make of what we call natural disasters? 1. We are to do good…
Media outrage after Israel Folau claims God punishes sin
Israel Folau is back in the headlines again after suggesting Australia’s drought crisis and the recent spate of bushfires are a taste of God’s coming judgement. The comments were made during a sermon Folau recently preached at his church in north-west Sydney. Video taken from the service and posted online on Sunday shows the former rugby star urging Australians to repent of their sins and revert the laws that made it legal for same-sex couples to ‘marry’ in Australia. “These bushfires, these droughts, all these things, they’ve come in a short period of time,” Folau said. “You think it’s a…
Would You Rather Kneel Before the State or Have the State Kneel Before King Jesus?
All societies are theocratic. All of them! The only thing that distinguishes them is how the reigning ‘theos’ or ‘god’ of each society is defined. In a lecture delivered at New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho, Doug Wilson explained that the reigning theos of any society can be identified by locating that society’s highest authority. The highest authority is the point at which no further appeals can be made. A Christian society recognises the highest authority as Jesus Christ. That is what Christians mean when we say Jesus is Lord or Jesus is King. Jesus is the supreme authority…
Middle-Class Christianity vs Christianity
A lot of what is called Christian morality today is not necessarily Christian, but more accurately described as Middle-Class Christianity. It is the Christianity influenced by the Victorian era politeness and the rather quiet indoor working spaces of many Christians, who tend heavily towards the middle class. Here are examples of the difference: Middle-Class Christianity: Don’t be harsh and use mean words to those who come to you, especially if they are in need. Christianity: Jesus said to the Syrophoenician woman: You don’t give the children’s food to the dogs (Matt 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30). Middle-Class Christianity: It is wrong to even insult those…
Western civilisation has moved from Christianity through science-based rationalism to paganism
We typically think of our western culture as being secular. Western civilisation was not born out of secular (non-religious) concepts. Great Britain was a Christian nation when it colonised a large part of the world and Christian concepts formed the basis of its government, education and laws. America similarly had a Christian worldview underlying its formation. The Mayflower Compact was the first document written by the early western settlers of America when they landed at Plymouth Colony. In it the Pilgrims write (emphasis mine): Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of…
WATCH: Atheist professor loses it during a heated debate about God’s existence
Doug Wilson once said, there are two tenets of atheism: 1. There is no God; and 2. I hate him. Last week at the University of Utah, Associate Professor, Dr Greg Clark perfectly proved that point during a fiery debate about the existence of the Christian God. The debate, which took place on October 3, saw Dr James White, of Alpha & Omega Ministries, and Jeff Durbin, of Apologia Church, debate Dr Greg Clark and Dan Ellis, the past President of the Utah Atheists, now State representative for American Atheists. Things were off to a good start with Jeff Durbin…
WATCH: Man hugs his brother’s killer in court: “I forgive you… I love you… Give your life to Christ’
On September 6, 2018, Amber Guyger, an off-duty parole officer, entered her apartment complex in Dallas and saw, what she thought, was her apartment door partially open. When Guyger entered the apartment she found a man inside who she believed to be an intruder. She fired her gun at the man, killing him. But Guyger was not in her apartment. She had entered the apartment of Botham Jean, a 26-year-old accountant, which was situated directly above her own. This week Guyger was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. In an astonishing display of grace, forgiveness…
We Can Win the Culture War and the Radical Left Know It, But There’s Just One Problem
What evils have provoked the Lord to bring judgment on our community? That question was asked in 1679 by the General Court of Massachusetts Colony. Not long after, political and religious leaders gathered together in Boston to formulate a response and uncover the root of the issues plaguing the new community. The synod offered up fourteen reasons why judgment had fallen on the colony, one of those being defects in family government in the home. “There are many families that do not pray to God constantly, morning and evening,” the council wrote. “And many more where the Scriptures are not…
Justice and Truth in the Public Square
It is fearful how often the condition of ancient Israel resembles that of the modern world. One example of this is found in Isaiah 59: ‘Justice is turned back, and righteousness is far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey’ (Isa.59:14-15a). A modern journalist could have written these words, assuming there is a modern journalist with some understanding of these things. Because Dietrich Bonhoeffer became involved in the conspiracy against Hitler, he had to be unnaturally guarded in all relationships, and…
Lawmakers want to force churches to embrace LGBTQ ideology instead of the Bible
Lawmakers in California are pushing a new resolution in the state Assembly Judiciary Committee which essentially gives the state the power to dictate the moral positions of the Church, regardless of where the Bible stands. CBN News reports: “The Assembly Concurrent Resolution 99 (ACR 99) calls on ‘counselors, pastors, religious workers, educators’ and institutions with ‘great moral influence’ to stop perpetuating the idea that something is wrong with LGBT identities or sexual behavior. ACR 99 also condemns attempts to change unwanted same-sex attraction or gender confusion as ‘unethical,’ ‘harmful,’ and leading to high rates of suicide.” A number of individuals…
How do the Old and New Testament fit together?
Many people in the Christian Church have wondered how the Old and New Testaments are to be connected. Partly this is because of the widespread teaching of the German liberal Protestants who had no idea how to tackle this issue. One of the few who was not personally anti-Semitic was Adolf Harnack whose famous lectures of 1899 asked the question What is Christianity? He answered in terms of the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and the infinite value of the human soul, and had little time for the evangelical emphasis on the death and resurrection of the God-man, Jesus…
WATCH: Pastor arrested after angry mob protest ‘offensive’ Christian message
A pastor in Toronto, Canada was arrested last week after his gospel message offended a nearby mob. Pastor David Lynn of Christ Forgiveness Ministries was at Church-Wellesley Village on June 4, as part of the ministry’s outdoor preaching tour throughout 22 districts in Toronto. The entire incident, including Pastor Lynn’s arrest, was live-streamed on Facebook and later uploaded to YouTube. The video shows Lynn sharing the gospel with people on a street corner when a group of belligerent LGBTQ protesters began to form a blockade around the pastor and shout down his message. “We are here to tell you that…
The Horrors of History Bear Witness, Not to the Cruelty of Christendom, but the Cruelty of Humanity When They Deviate From Christianity
“Christianity doesn’t need to apologise for injustices orchestrated by professing Christians, because every injustice ever committed is carried out contrary to Christianity.”
Christianity is a hoax if Jesus did not rise from the dead
The historian, Philip Schaff, is often cited regarding the resurrection of Christ: ‘Truly, Jesus Christ, the Christ of the Gospels, the Christ of history, the crucified and risen Christ, the divine-human Christ, is the most real, the most certain, the most blessed of all facts. And this fact is an ever-present and growing power which pervades the church and conquers the world, and is its own best evidence, as the sun shining in the heavens. This fact is the only solution to the terrible mystery of sin and death, the only inspiration to a holy life of love to God…
Hell Makes No Sense to a Society That Thinks the Only Sin Is Condemning Sin
“The difficulty that the modern man has in accepting the idea of hell is that we’ve almost entirely given up on the notion of sin.”
Is there more to existence than just the physical world? Fascinating video looks at the spiritual realm and its impacts on earth.
We live in a society that often pretends there’s nothing more to reality than the physical stuff we’re made of. Apart from the fact that this notion can’t be rationally sustained, we hardly ever practically live it out in the real world. For instance, we all get angry when people do “evil” or “unjust” things. But what are these concepts in a purely material universe bound by the fixed laws of chemistry? Concepts such as “evil” and “injustice” cannot exist. They can’t exist because what happens in a purely material world, can only ever be the result of purely material…
A Message to Brian Houston: The World Doesn’t Need More Watered-Down Christians
This week Brian Houston, founder of Hillsong, penned an open letter to Israel Folau criticising the rugby star’s “judgmental” approach to sharing the gospel on social media. Brian then sent the letter to the Sydney Morning Herald who published it under the title: A message to Folau: The world doesn’t need more judgmental Christians. The piece divided opinions, and many, including some of Brian’s own supporters, expressed disappointment in his decision to distance himself from Folau. But that’s not the most concerning aspect of Brian’s letter. Brian doesn’t just take issue with Folau’s approach, he quickly turns his attention to…
The Message of Israel Folau, Notre Dame and Good Friday
It’s wonderful news that all of a sudden Rugby Union Australia believe in God, Heaven and Hell. Many of us had been under the distinct impression they were largely indifferent to Christian theology and doctrine. All that was cleared up marvellously though when they judged the record try scorer of all time, Israel Folau, to be more immoral than the philandering, drunken cokeheads which litter the various Australian football codes. His unconscionable crime was that of claiming to know of an objective standard by which Scripture warns all men are measured, a standard accepted and preached for centuries, if not…