Jeff Durbin on Australian culture: Big government is the result of abandoning the Christian foundation.
A few months ago, Apologia Studios visited Australia and New Zealand as part of their End Abortion Now conference. During their time in Sydney, Jeff Durbin, Luke Pierson, and Zach Conover reflected on the state of the culture in the West. Jeff Durbin: “One of the interesting things to note, both in American culture and in Australian culture — and really with any culture that was once started by Christians, or the Christian worldview was in the atmosphere — is when you look at how those cultures have abandoned their foundations now, you don’t just get things like the culture…
Actress Ellen Page goes after Chris Pratt’s ‘infamously anti lgbtq’ faith
Actress Ellen Page has targetted Chris Pratt, following his recent appearance on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert. During his appearance, Pratt opened up about his “spiritual side”, prompting Page to suggest the Guardians of the Galaxy star should have to address his church’s “infamously anti lgbtq” position. “Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?” Page tweeted in response to the episode. Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too? https://t.co/meg8m69FeF — Ellen Page (@EllenPage) February 8, 2019 Why? Because like most of the vocal…
Misleading ‘Christian’ slogans are dangerous when they are a substitute for solid biblical truth
There is a strong element of disguise and deception in the spiritual battles that we face. In Paul’s day there were false apostles who disguised themselves as apostles of Christ, following Satan who does great evil while appearing to be an angel of light (see 2 Cor.11:13-15). The covenant people of God are thus warned against slogans that appear to be spiritual truths but which turn out to be false or at least misleading in some way. In the dark days of the Babylonian exile, a proverb was repeated: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are…
Be a Good Hater: Righteous Anger and the Rule of Christian Love
The provocative quote of the week goes to, Charles Spurgeon: “Be a good hater.” The statement, “be a good hater” is a challenge to resist evil (James 4L7). To resist the morality of the tyrant or the ‘crowd which has no hands’ (Kierkegaard, The Crowd is Untruth) In context, it means: to abhor evil: to regard it with extreme repugnance. [In Latin, “abhor” is Odium: with hostility; “repugnance”: resist, be an adversary of evil.] Our present age has an almost absolute fear of hate, yet most would agree that “let love be genuine. Hate what is evil, cling to that…
Epiphany 2019: His great joy will be our strength.
Since 2014 I’ve been committed to considering what different things God might have to say at the close of Christmas. Traditionally this is Epiphany, the 6th January, marking the end of the twelve days of Christmas. Magi from the East (Persia), following the star (likely to be the well-timed rare alignment of three planets in our Sol system; a Nova or Super Nova) find confirmation of Micah 5:2: “but you, O Bethlehem who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin…
Banning the Holy Spirit and chaining the Word
As Western societies lurch from one disastrous fad to another, there have been increased efforts to ban what are called gay conversion therapies. Hollywood has naturally offered its obligatory contribution with the movie Boy Erased, Academia chipped in with a report from La Trobe University – the institution that birthed the Safe Schools Coalition – which joined with the Human Rights Law Centre and Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria to produce research to show that ‘LGBT conversion therapy remains a real problem in Australian religious communities.’ The Victorian government over 2016-2017 banned such therapy, and the Conservative government in the…
How to uproot the Christian church, a masterclass from Louis XIV
By 1685 Louis XIV had from the age of four been the King of France for 42 years, and he still had another thirty years to reign. From birth his mind and heart had been thoroughly trained to believe that God had anointed him to be France’s absolute ruler. His Huguenot subjects, the French Protestants who refused to submit to his Roman Catholic beliefs and practices, offended him. They stood outside of his thought-world. They stood against the beliefs that he cherished as true. Ultimately, he sensed that they stood outside of his control. The Huguenots offended the abysmal totalitarian…
Queen Elizabeth Says, Jesus Is “Never Out of Date,” His Message Is “Needed as Much as Ever”
The Queen has delivered her 2018 Christmas Message to the Commonwealth, saying Jesus Christ and his message is still relevant today and needed as much as ever. “The Christmas story retains its appeal, since it doesn’t provide theoretical explanations for the puzzles of life. Instead, it’s about the birth of a child and the hope, that birth 2,000 years ago, brought to the world. “Only a few people acknowledged Jesus when he was born, now billions follow him. I believe his message of peace on earth and goodwill to all is never out of date. It can be heeded by…
There are only two religions.
Every religion outside of Christianity basically says the same thing: You must do such-and-such in order to earn your way to “heaven.” Where they differ is in what things you ought to do in order to earn your way to that promised eternal bliss. The idea that we can earn our way to heaven is as common to mankind as pride. And it’s tied to pride because it’s the refusal to acknowledge the fact that we have already failed the test. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam if he ate of the forbidden fruit he would die (Genesis…
The sheep and the goats: The distinction between a Pilgrim’s Progress and a Progressive Pilgrim.
With over 2000+ years of thought, action and in some cases really good ideas, that simply just crashed and burned, Christian history is rich and vibrant. If we ignore this history and the theological enquiry attached to it, we turn our backs on faith, heritage and hard lessons learnt along the way. The old saying still reigns: “I believe in order to understand.” Unfortunately, we live in a ‘Just get me to the chorus’ era: “Give me the theological truth – but if it doesn’t fit in a MEME that I can like, share or wave passive aggressively at my…
WATCH: Leftist warring on free speech becomes a Christian, admits she was completely wrong.
Artist Bindi Cole Chocka, one of the individuals who took Andrew Bolt to Federal Court under the racial discrimination act has admitted she was completely wrong. The realisation came when Bindi became a Christian and found her Leftist, identity politics, victim-complex was incompatible with her new faith. In an interview on The Bolt Report, Bindi said: “It’s only in the last few years that I’ve come to realise what I’ve done. Which was, set a precedent with a law that’s limiting free speech and giving an over-reach to government. And I regret that now. I regret that part of it.”…
A good reputation is not proof of good character: substance trumps appearances.
God is love. It’s his character revealed – Love is His language – peace, long-suffering, patience, joy, kindness, it does not envy or boast it is not arrogant or rude, it is not irritable or resentful it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, endures all things. Love never ends. Among the three top things rated in life: faith, hope and love – love remains the greatest. (1 Corinthians 13) Sex is not God. Money is not God. Love is not God. Things we own? Not God. Social status? Not God – the…
John MacArthur on the Ben Shapiro Show: Christianity and Politics
Ben Shapiro said, there was more anticipation in the office for Pastor John MacArthur than for any other guest they’ve had on The Sunday Special show.
Is anti-discrimination the first commandment?
Drawing on the work of two American writers, Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, Paul Kelly wrote recently of ‘the three great lies corroding Western cultures’. In his view, these are: first, that disputes today are a battle between good (defined as the oppressed victims) and evil (defined as the privileged minority); secondly, that people will be made weaker by being challenged so they need to be protected and made safe; and thirdly, that we must always trust our feelings. All that is undeniable, but associated with these great lies is the confusion in our view of the law. In the…
Murdered missionary knew the risk: “Please do not be angry at them or at God if I get killed.”
“Unreached peoples are unreached for a reason. They’re hard, difficult, and dangerous to reach. All the easy ones are taken.” David Platt John Allen Chau, a Christian missionary from the United States, was murdered last week as he attempted to bring the Gospel to the people on the remote North Sentinel Island off the coast of India. The 26-year old knew the risk involved in making contact with the tribespeople. In fact, Chau was shot at a day earlier. The Daily Mail obtained several journal entries Chau penned detailing the incident: “A little kid shot me with an arrow –…
Peter Hitchens warns, those who drive Christianity out of society are preparing the way for Islam.
Peter Hitchens has warned, the atheist campaign against God in the West is preparing the way for Islam. In an interview on Conversations with Vicky Warren, Hitchens said, “When they drive Christianity out of Europe, as they’re rapidly succeeding in doing, they will not create an atheist paradise. They will leave a space for Islam.” Hitchens went on to warn that material prosperity, military force and anti-terror laws are not a reliable or sufficient defense against Islamic take-over. With Christianity out of the picture the spread of Islam will be near impossible to resist. “Those people who now campaign for Christianity to be…
When there is nowhere else to go
There are times in life when it becomes obvious not only that the God who has revealed Himself in Christ is true, but that there is nowhere else to go. One such moment occurred for the apostles when many people who had been disciples of Jesus left Him because of His hard sayings (see John 6:60-66). Jesus then challenged the Twelve: ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ (John 6:66) Here they were, looking at the backs of the people who were their erstwhile friends and who were now leaving. They must have been asking themselves: ‘Did we get…
Christianity Is Not About Being Nice, Even Jesus Got Angry
Elshtain is right, viewing Christianity as an ethic of universal niceness and attributing it to Jesus Christ, is an aberration of Christianity. It misses the point.
Study: Christian persecution is worse now than any time in history.
Christian persecution is worse today than at any time in history, according to a study released by Catholic organization Aid to the Church in Need. “Not only are Christians more persecuted than any other faith group, but ever-increasing numbers are experiencing the very worst forms of persecution,” the report said. In fact, the persecution is so severe that in many cases “genocide and other crimes against humanity now mean that the Church in core countries and regions faces the possibility of imminent wipe-out.” The report reviewed 13 countries and found that in all but one, the situation for Christians was…
Fall of the West, Rise of Islam
Francis Schaeffer in his book, “The God Who is There,” argues that relativism has destroyed the form of society by removing structure and morality. As a result people today have an internal void which causes them to look for some kind of stability. I believe this is what has given rise to the hedonistic culture we currently see in the West. Further, this change has also contributed to the rise of Islam. In an effort to fill the void, people embraced pleasure (sex, drugs, alcohol etc.) hoping to fill the emptiness within. These temporal pleasures, however, failed to deliver what…
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