Reformed (and slightly charismatic?) ministry Desiring God led by John Piper put this video on their front page under the heading “The Gospel In One Minute.” I think the message is theologically correct overall but a bit skewed. While there is an overemphasis on God’s love… repentance, obedience and sanctification are notably absent. To Lecrae’s defense, this may have been a spontaneous recital. 🙂
What do Delight in Truth readers think? Does rap have a place in spreading the gospel?
On Inauguration Day, Pastor Mark Driscoll tweeted this controversial quote:
“Praying for our president, who today will place his hands on a Bible he does not believe to take an oath to a God he likely does not know.”
Driscoll took a big risk in tweeting this direct attack on the president’s faith. Since then, a multitude of progressives, atheists, and liberal Christian leaders have been ripping Driscoll to pieces over the tweet, but also other well respected Christian figures have labeled it as insensitive.
Regardless how one feels about Driscoll and his tweeting, is there truth in the message?
Obama is a professing Christian who believes in Jesus as a “role model” based on how he describes his Christianity. Christian author and theologian A.W. Pink would call him a professor based on the way Pink describes people like Obama in his 1300 page “Exposition on Hebrews.”
The President takes a number of unbliblical positions on important social issues which validates the first part of the quote:
1. He supports the abortion platform vehemently, despite multiple biblical passages demonstrating that unborn babies are persons who feel joy, who can be filled with the Holy Spirit, and their life and servitude is planned out by God before they are born. Obama previously said he would not want to punish his daughter with a baby if she made a mistake and became pregnant. He may have hinted that pre-marital sex is ok, as long she takes the necessary precautions not to get pregnant.
2. He supports the gay agenda despite multiple Bible texts which speak against homosexuality.
3. He accepts an unbiblical view of marriage by supporting same sex marriage.
4. In a TV interview Obama made clear that he embraces the idea that all religions lead to heaven and that Jesus is not the only way to salvation. He makes clear that following the moral code of other religions can lead to salvation, which is really a salvation by works and not by grace through faith. Such statements are against the Bible, further supporting Driscoll’s claim that he does not believe the Bible.
As for the second part of the quote, Driscoll knows the issues listed above and that is why he states that the president probably does not know the God, Jesus Himself, revealed in the Bible, Who stated the He is “the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through [Him]” (John 4:16). The president disagrees with this statement, and this leads me to conclude that he believes in a different god than the One revealed in the Bible.
No one can be sure about anyone’s salvation but we can make educated guesses based on the things they say and do, in other words are the fruits of the Spirit in their life…?
Is president Obama a Christian? Yes, he is a professing Christian.
Is he a born-again Christian? No.
Was Mark Driscoll insensitive in this tweet? Probably.
Was Driscoll correct in his assessment? Yes.
Truth is controversial. Truth hurts sometimes.
Christianity is undergoing transformation these days, especially the Catholic Church which will soon have a new Pontiff. I would like to propose that we may see a spiritual revival in the Catholic Church with possibly a new guard coming in, as Pope Benedict XVI is stepping down.
The current Pope was the main doctrinarian and theologian of the Catholic Church, and I am inclined to say he was part of an old guard accepting liberal doctrines such as the denying of the physical resurrection, and salvation via the beatitudes. He was elderly to begin with when he was elected, so he was bound to be a transitional figure.
As we are living in the last days, could we be seeing perhaps the last opportunity for a leader in the Catholic Church through whom God will bring in a long overdue revival?
Everyone is talking about revival in the Evangelical Church, but what about revival in the fertile ground of the 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide today? Image a spiritual revival in this block of people, and imagine the impact a new leader may have toward this purpose.
Imagine a pontiff who may be bold enough to embrace the Charismatic and Pentecostal type movements going on among Catholics in South America, or one willing to move toward reformed positions… a pontiff who is willing to chastise the liberal wings of catholic priests who deny Jesus as the only way to eternal life.
Even here in the US, I have seen sporadic evidence that Catholicism is changing. I was playing a worship song in the operating room not too long ago, a song known in our Evangelical churches, and to my surprise one of my nurses who is Catholic recognized the song and the band, and said “we sing this song all the time at mass.”
After my initial shock I got more information, and it turns out that for some time now their church is holding evangelical style services, with worship songs that typically have a Reformed or Pentecostal message… followed by sermons! She even said “we love to sing music from our evangelical brethren!” Amazing!
Imagine the Catholic Church moving away from empty rituals and toward a real salvation relationship with Jesus.
We must think in these positive revival terms because the opposite is an apocalyptic scenario. At the opposite end of the spectrum we could be seeing a new pope who will usher in the era of the AntiChrist. And let me tell you, the lukewarm (or dead) post-modern Evangelical Church is not ready for such turn of events.
However, the real Body of Christ will be ready for whatever will happen. A revival will be welcomed as the kingdom of God will be extended throughout the earth even more. But also the opposite will be welcomed, the ushering in of the AntiChristic era which will mean that our time is at hand and Jesus is about to return.
Right now though, the world needs revival, and I am hoping for the salvation of many souls.
The little 3-year-old Johnny is too cute when faced with the evidence of his actions. Despite a face full of sprinkles he insists he did not eat any! He does not budge, he does not blink, he does not flinch while lying. He believes it! 🙂
Delight in Truth will take this opportunity to demonstrate that sin is inherent to human nature from birth, and we are not immune from it even at an age before we can discern between right and wrong.
It is evidently clear that no parent in his or her right mind will instruct their toddler to lie. Even those without Christ have a moral code which typically includes moral laws against lying; whether they follow those laws is a another matter.
This begs the question… if we do not teach our children to lie how do they learn to lie as early as age 2? Why do they exhibit unholy qualities such as shame, anger, jealousy, and revenge as early as 3 years old?
The answer is that these qualities do not have to be taught, they are inherent to our human nature. For this reason I disagree with many philosophers who along the centuries have taught either that humans are basically good, or humans are neutral, neither bad nor good.
Besides the evidence we see in children who are capable of cruelty and evil acts which have not been specifically taught to them, the Bible also holds that human nature is depraved in the worst possible way.
This depravity begins at birth as Psalm 51:5 tells us “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (NIV). The LORD declares in Genesis 8:21 “every inclination of [man’s] heart is evil from childhood.” And specifically for lying, Psalm 58:3 “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies”
And this continues into adulthood as Paul teaches in Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”
But I do not want to make a cute little video into a damper for your day… Lets end on a positive note!
Despite our sinfulness and depravity we have the opportunity to become righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2 :4-5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Amen!
Photographer Marsel von Oosten created this time-lapse video after compiling still shots of the night-time scenery in Namibia. All I can say is wow.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
read part 1 here
In this post we continue to explore scientific facts and principles mentioned in the Bible, validating it as a book containing truth.
The primary purpose of the Bible is not to reveal science but to reveal God and salvation, but nevertheless, biblical scientific revelations are a good addition to the armamentarium of the Christian apologist.
Twentieth century discoveries have solidified our understanding of space and matter in that we understand that all matter is composed of invisible molecules, which are made of smaller atoms, which contain subatomic particles, and many of those subatomic particles are not… particles at all, but quanta of energy orbiting other particles and so forth.
The point is that these atomic and sub atomic building blocks are invisible and detected only using special equipment in university research labs. These invisible atoms make up everything that is visible. And of course we know this from Hebrews 11:3 where it was clearly written 2000 years ago:
“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
In Old Testament times when various sources declared that the Earth was fixed on the back of an elephant or a turtle, the book of Job revealed what science now affirms as true: that our planet is not supported by anything except the invisible gravitational pull of the sun. It hangs free of physical support while orbiting the sun! What a radical idea first presented thousands of years ago by Job!
Here is what Job 26:7 says about God: “He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.”
Starting in the last century, we came to understand the complex anatomy and physiology of blood. As an anesthesiologist, one of my most important jobs is to monitor a patient’s circulating blood volume and blood loss during surgery, because the most important function of blood (and there are about a thousand such important functions…) is to facilitate cellular respiration. It delivers oxygen to organs and tissues while removing carbon dioxide and other metabolic waste.
Without this critical function, in a matter of 2-3 minutes cells begin to die, with brain cells being the most sensitive to lack of oxygenated blood. That is why in the Emergency Room we say “time is brain” in the case of a stroke. We must restore blood flow to the affected tissue immediately for that tissue to have any chance of survival.
But wait… as recently as 150 years ago contemporary medicine was practicing “blood-letting” for nearly every illness, with many patients dying of severe anemia resulting from repeated intentional hemorrhage.
If they only would have read Leviticus 17:14 “For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life,” this bleeding practice would not have persisted throughout the middle ages!
And so… for a long time in the case of “blood-letting” people were also perishing physically not only spiritually from not knowing the word of God… Hosea 4: 6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
to be continued…
How does a born-again Christian kindly turn the tables and witness to a self-proclaimed Jehovah’s witness (JW)?
Jehovah’s witnesses are the folks who come to your door and proclaim their understanding of the kingdom of God in a way that is not consistent with orthodox Christianity.
One of their most important doctrinal points has to do with denying the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, therefore denying the Trinity. They believe that Jesus was a created being just like Satan and the archangel Michael, and the Holy Spirit is a mere force.
There are also many other secondary doctrinal heresies involving earning salvation, failed end times predictions (see photo above), and bizarre eschatological and apocalyptic teaching.
When discussing the Bible with JWs, I highly recommend to first and foremost focus on the Person of Jesus and His divinity. That should be the center of your witnessing. Everything else like deconstructing the failed apocalyptic predictions, and the unbiblical decrees of their society, should be used as plan B. The reason you must focus on Jesus is that you must minister to them almost like to an unbeliever.
It is important to know that they use the New World Translation of the Bible, a specific JW Bible which has key verses like John 1:1 altered to fit their theology.
In this post as well as upcoming posts we will focus on the divinity of Jesus arguments. Your goal will be to show that Jesus is the same as the Jehovah revealed in the Old Testament, part of the Godhead. Anytime we see the name LORD (all caps) in the OT, it comes from the Hebrew word YHWH, and it can also be named Jehovah in English, and we will show that LORD applies to Jesus.
Let us start off with the “first and the last” argument. Here are two powerful verses from Isaiah spoken by the LORD (YHWH):
Isaiah 44:6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”
Isaiah 48:12 “Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last.”
There are at least three places in Revelation where we can ascribe the title “the first and the last” to Jesus, as it is ascribed to Jehovah. For example, in Revelation 22 in the setting of the Second Coming, Jesus speaks by the angel:
12“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
16“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
Isaiah 42:8 also tells us “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another,” another powerful statement that the LORD does not share His Name with anyone. In light of fact that Jesus calls Himself “the first and the last,” and in light of the fact that the LORD also gives Himself that name, we must conclude that Jesus is the LORD (YHWH).
to be continued…
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
When you feel overwhelmed by the difficulties of this world read Psalm 46 and be amazed! Find your refuge in God even if the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the sea. When the nations rage and kingdoms trotter, when the evil one prowls around you like a lion, when trouble is upon you, just remember that the Lord of hosts is with you.
But most of all, when you find yourself cornered by trouble and grief, be still. You must maintain your composure under pressure because you have special revelation about who God is. The sons of Korah proclaim the message of the Almighty for you: “Be still and know that I am God.”
The One who can stop a world war can ameliorate your situation, whatever that is. It may be physical or psychological illness, troubled relationships or stress at work.
In the day of trouble just run to safety. Run and hide in the fortress that is the God of Jacob.
And be still and know that He is God.
I will not write off the entire charismatic movement because I believe there are authentic Christians who attend these churches, but I will focus on non-biblical practices in this movement which seem to be in line with mysticism. One such ritual is the observance of the presence of God in the “glory cloud” at Bill Johnson’s church in Redding, CA, the home base of the hugely popular band Jesus Culture.
In the first video, as the Jesus Culture band plays “Show Me Your Glory” the crowd is fixated on the lights in the ceiling waiting for the “glory cloud…” and it appears at minute 1:45. Please observe and decide if that is the presence of God…
The next video is a short documentary on Bill Johnson and the “glory cloud” phenomenon at Bethel in Redding, CA.
Let us go back to the Bible and reflect on some passages that tell us about the presence of God and the what truly happens when God “shows up,” and then we can compare such descriptions with what we see in these videos.
Isaiah 6
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost…”
Exodus 19
16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.
Exodus 20
18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
Revelation 1
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.
The point I am trying to make is that when God truly shows up in a physical way like Bill Johnson claims, THERE WILL BE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. Holy men like John fell “as though dead” in the physical presence of the Lord. Isaiah said “woe to me” and temple’s foundations shook. Israel could not bear to hear God’s voice and stand in the presence of God “lest we die.”
And Bill Johnson is trying to convince us that the “glory cloud” made of glitter and fanned by the air conditioning is a sign and wonder of the presence of God?
The following is a satirical essay by Delight in Truth friend and follower Matt. Originally written in High School, it brilliantly shames our society into realizing the grave sin and injustice of aborting millions of unborn babies.
My Humble Proposition
There is an issue which has divided our nation for far too long. It is an issue that angers many Americans against each other, and I would like to offer my humble proposition to permanently resolve the issue in a way that is both acceptable and beneficial to all. I propose a solution that would also serve to strengthen our country. I offer my humble proposition to resolve the issue of abortion.
First and foremost we would outlaw abortions immediately. This should assuage the concerns of even the most extreme opponents of abortion. In conjunction with this we would create a national database for unwanted unborn children. Any woman who is pregnant and does not want the child would be required to register her child as unwanted. This can be done any time up to the ninth month of pregnancy or even after birth up to a reasonable age, such as one year. This does require the woman to carry the child for 9 months, but in exchange it allows her a one year trial with the child after birth to determine if the child is wanted or not. This is a tremendous benefit over the current abortion-based system because it would allow her to assess the personality of this child in a way she can’t currently because the decision must be made before birth. Under this program, once the child is declared unwanted, the government would cover all expenses of medical and child care. Further if the child is declared unwanted after birth she would still be eligible for reimbursement of medical expenses and reasonable child care expenses.
The next step is, of course, the management of the unwanted children, which I will hereafter refer to simply as Unwanteds. Certainly there is an expense to U.S. taxpayers for delivering and raising the Unwanteds, but with foresight it should be easy to see the benefits of this system. The Unwanteds can serve untold benefit to our society. Education of the Unwanteds can be minimal as they will primarily be working at hard labor and jobs valuable Americans don’t want. Further their living conditions and food can be kept at minimal levels. I estimate that by age 12 they can begin to earn their keep in various forms of labor. It should be possible to create a program in which a percentage of the value generated by the Unwanteds can be provided to their birth mothers as an income source long-term. This would help compensate the mother for the 9 months of carrying the Unwanted.
Currently, the military has roughly 1.5 million active members, and 1.5 million reserve members. Currently there are also roughly 1.5 million abortions annually in the U.S. You can see that only two years of Unwanteds could populate our entire military. This would prevent the loss of valuable American lives in any future conflict. The remaining Unwanteds can perform other hazardous or undesirable jobs. They can provide low-cost factory labor to compete with countries like China. Those who demonstrate exceptional ability and attitude could be rented for private service to valuable Americans. Because they are not citizens we need not be concerned with things like a minimum wage, or excessively comfortable working conditions.
Perhaps there will be a few who feel this is unfair treatment of the Unwanteds. One would logically expect, however, that they will in fact be grateful both to their nation and to their birth mothers who offered them the opportunity to live and contribute to their mothers and their nation. If an Unwanted made the illogical decision that death would in fact have been better, they can always be provided the opportunity to make this decision for themselves. It might even be possible to create a program in which an Unwanted, of exceptional talent and work ethic, could eventually purchase a Wanted status and become a valued member of American society. In this scenario it would even be possible to allow a reunion between the grateful Unwanted and the potentially proud birth mother if both parties agreed.
I believe this solution provides a resolution to the abortion issue that is satisfying for all parties. We prevent the abortions as opponents desire, but we also create a system in which the mothers are able to convert their Unwanted pregnancies into a much-needed income stream. This seems to be a benefit to all involved.
Delight in Truth 
