The piece Eternity refused to publish
Fr. Daryl McCullough—and Aboriginal Anglican priest from Western NSW—has written a turgid 4,000-word opinion piece in Eternity responding to my original 800-word article as to why Christian organisations should not engage in the use of indigenous protocols. He raises a number of significant concerns which I thought would be helpful to provide a response to help further clarify the issue (Proverbs 27:17). At its recent General Assembly, the Presbyterian Church of Australia discussed the use of Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country protocols. I was one of a significant number who expressed their personal concerns about doing so. The…
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…
Ten Reasons Why Christians Shouldn’t Use Indigenous Protocols
Both Welcome to Country—said by an indigenous person—and Acknowledgement of Country—which is said by someone who is not indigenous—have become a popular practice in the media, government and even in business. What’s more, Aboriginal smoking ceremonies to ward off evil spirits have become an integral part of the opening of the Australian parliament for the past decade. Significantly, a range of these ‘indigenous protocols’ is also being increasingly conducted at the opening of church services, ecclesiastical synods, graduation ceremonies, school assemblies, etc. But while the motivation behind it is well-intentioned, I believe that the rationale for doing so is fundamentally…
Why Israel Folau is right about disasters and the judgment of God
Izzy Folau is in the news again for saying something offensive. This time it’s not because of something he posted on social media but what he said in church. If you haven’t done so already, take the time to listen to his twelve-minute sermon before reading any further… However, this time it was not only those in the unbelieving media who were quick to pour scorn n Folau, but many within the Christian Church were eager to distance themselves as well. Everyone from the Prime Minister Scott Morrison—who said that Folau’s comments were “appallingly insensitive”—to Brian Houston who wrote on…
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…
Huge spike in searches about Christianity after the release of ‘Jesus Is King’
There has been an increased interest in Christianity recently after rapper Kanye West released his latest album, Jesus Is King. Google searches for “Jesus”, “Jesus is Lord” and “What do Christians believe?” spiked with the release of West’s gospel-themed album last week, while #JesusIsKing was trending across social media. Bible Gateway also reported a ten-fold increase in searches for “John 8:33” and “John 8:36,” two of the verses mentioned in the song ‘Selah’. Following the release of the album, the American Bible Society (ABS) set up a website offering free Bibles to Kanye fans interested in learning more about…
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…
Kanye West’s ‘Sunday Service’ event filmed for the first time
If you’re following the news about Kanye West’s conversion to Christianity, you’ve likely heard something about the crusade-style, musical events he’s currently holding across the U.S. The gatherings, known as the Sunday Service, have attracted thousands of attendees, and have sparked the interest and curiosity of many on the outside who aren’t sure whether they’re an evangelistic outreach, a music concert, or a church service. Some of the events entirely consist of singing songs of praise, others have included the preaching of ministers such as Adam Tyson, senior pastor of Placerita Bible Church. Speaking with Jeff Durbin of Apologia Studios,…
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…
Kanye West spreads the Gospel after ‘radical salvation’, West’s pastor says: ‘God is at work’
Pastor Adam Tyson, the senior pastor of Placerita Bible Church, made headlines recently after preaching at a number of Kanye West’s Sunday Service events. Tyson had previously worked as a Physician’s Assistant at the Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery, in Savannah, Georgia, for about three or four years before entering fulltime ministry. He recalls sitting in his office as a P.A. thinking, “Man, what am I doing? I might be helping people live longer, but they’re just going to sin more. I want to help people live forever, where they never sin again.” Tyson, a young graduate of The Master’s Seminary, now…
When a Woke Pope goes for Broke
Is anyone else having trouble distinguishing a difference between the Extinction Rebellion activists in London—as well as the rest of the Western world—and the latest goings on in the Roman Catholic Church? Because as The Mocker rightly asks in The Australian, it has become almost impossible to discern just exactly where the climate Catholics and the religious environmentalists differ. Yep, the Pope has gone woke. For some bizarre reason, he has embraced the spirit of the South American rainforest by including animistic religious rituals in the opening of the recent pan-Amazon Synod. It has many people seriously asking the…
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…
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