needfaith.org

Yes, we are still here, and unfortunately the world has not stopped while we are not updating the site. Yesterday I watched on “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News Channel a story being discussed that I had been following on the web. Boulder High School in Boulder, CO, recently had a panel from the Conference on World Affairs speak during a mandatory assembly. The problem is the members of this panel endorsed and encouraged drug use (appropriate, of course–whatever that means), casual sex, and experimenting with same-sex (homosexual) relationships.

Wow!

Just today I read another article; I know–it surprising that I read, but…The Discovery Institute details a professor that has been fully tenured by Iowa State University. That’s rather mundane; what isn’t is his view of the Bible. He basically equates the Bible with Mein Kampf, Hitler’s book. Professor Avalos has already written one book attacking the Word of God, and he is preparing to release another book which is going to encourage educators to show their students the dangerous and irrelevant nature of the Bible.

I will conclude with one verse:

Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

 

It has been a busy week or so, and that is the reason for the delay in posting new articles. Sorry.

There were two disturbing articles that I have seen over the past ten days or so. The first was in a British newspaper around Easter. The hospital made the decision that serving the traditional hot cross buns would be a mistake, because it might offend non-Christians. After much pressure, the hospital relented, and on the Monday after Easter, those in the hospital finally got their Easter dessert. The alarming thing is that a bun with a cross is offensive. I wish someone would explain to me how that offends someone. I guess I’m just not quite bright enough to figure it out.

The second article ran today on Fox News. An American judge has decided that it does NOT violate a students freedom of speech to stop students from wearing t-shirts that says, “Be Happy Not Gay.” The students wore the shirts on a day when other students were allowed not to speak in protest of how gays and lesbians are treated at school. The attorney argued that the ban was necessary “to preserve the notion that kids shouldn’t make negative or derogatory comments about other students.”

My fear is that we are just a hop, skip, and a jump from applying that policy to other areas of life. I can just hear them say:

The preacher said what?! He can’t do that. Doesn’t he know that he can’t just go around making negative and derogatory comments about other people? They have rights. We’ll just have to let the authorities know about this fellow.

Now I don’t know when the civil liberties of preachers and Christians will be attacked in America the way they are in Europe, but I do know that it WILL happen unless we stand and fight. It will happen if we don’t pray and seek God’s face until we see revival. It will happen if we don’t purify ourselves and start living holy lives. God help us to serve and seek Him!

Happy Easter!!! We are just days away from the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. Incidentally, there were a few articles that caught my attention. First was the report of the newly re-established Sanhedrin–the Jewish High Council–wanting to sacrifice a lamb at the Temple Mount. (This link is now broken, and a search of the site turned up nothing. I have an archived copy of the article saved on my computer that is available upon request.) As the article details, this is not the first attempt to have a sacrifice for the Jewish Passover. What is so exciting to the Bible believer is that the Books of Revelation and Daniel (among others) teach that there will be a “Third Temple” and temple worship during the Tribulation. We may yet be quite a ways from the Rapture, but many events of the hour do seem to indicate that the stage is being set.

Second, there was an article posted on WordNetDaily that was simply outraging. A homosexual Church of England cleric will be addressing the BBC on the reason for Christ’s crucifixion. Fundamentalists, Evangelicals, and anyone taking an honest look at the New Testament (and even the Old Testament) conclude that Christ died vicariously–or simply put, as a substitute. Here is a short, incomplete list of verses that show Christ died for our sins:

Romans 5:6-8, 7-14
John 1:29
I Corinthians 5:7
Revelation 1:5
II Corinthians 5:21
Ephesians 2

This particular minister believes this cardinal doctrine to be “repulsive” and “insane.” He argues that God is one of “love and truth.” He says Christ died to experience the depth of human suffering, not atone for our sins. How crazy he is to believe that God is One of truth, and then deny one of the most basic truths of the Bible. Man is not good according to Romans 1-3 among many other passages. God is holy according to I Peter, Leviticus, and the whole of Scriptures. Sin must be judged. Governments would viewed as reprehensible if they do not punish law breaking. God could not be God if He did not punish sin. He does, however, love us–John 3:16, for example. Then Christ took our place; He was our Substitute just like the lamb of Passover died as a substitute when the children of Israel where in Egypt just prior to the Exodus.

Let us not forget that Christ died for our sins. This grace, or gift, is available only (and thankfully) by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). As we celebrate Easter, remember these central truths of the Gospel.

Psalm 119:89 For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.

We are certainly living in a different era. Yesterday two different articles showed the state of America. The Daily Hampshire Gazette tells the story of an Episcopalian minister in Massachusetts who will not marry heterosexual couples, because the Anglican Church has prohibited marrying homosexual couples. According to the article, Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, who is an associate minister of the church had this to say:

I am convinced that when gays and lesbians are baptized, they become full members of the body of Christ. They are not partial members or conditional members or second-class members.

He will not marry straight couples as a way of “fasting” to show support for those gays and lesbians who have had to live their entire lives without opportunity to marry. They have forsaken Scriptural truth in order to pursue social activism. There is not a shred of Bible support for a gay lifestyle–let alone marriage. Yet times have change…or so they say.

As if that is not bad enough, a nondenominational evangelical church in Missouri is getting attention for having an “outreach” in a microbrewery. They are having a variety of discussions (about rock and roll, racism, et. al) over a variety of beers to encourage the younger generation to come to church.The Columbia Tribune reports that this “emergent” church is using a variety of methods for reaching those that would not normally come to church. Christians would agree about reaching out to those who are not saved. I am an evangelist–it is one of my greatest drives, yet I cannot use immoral methods to do so.

We must cling to the verse that we opened with. It teaches simply that God’s Word is eternal. We as Christians do not have the right to decide our own morality. The Scriptures establish absolutes, and we are bound to them. Our churches are bound to the New Testament. We ought live and worship that way. Our faith is founded in the Word.

Esther 4:14 …and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Yesterday, WorldNetDaily carried an article detailing the decision of the Sacramento library system to allow adults to turn off filters that prevent people from viewing pornography. It does not matter if children are present or if offends those that may be working on the next computer over.

This is in stark contrast to the failed attempts of a middle school in New York to prevent Christian students from passing out literature that explains why many Christians oppose abortion. (Continued)

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Monday, January 22, The O’Reilly Factor covered a story about a number of Methodist ministers objecting to placing Pres. George W. Bush’s Presidential Library on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, TX. Rev. Fred Kandeler appeared on Fox New’s program to speak on how Pres. Bush has carried out his administration inconsistently with Methodist views on the death penalty, environmental protection, and the war in Iraq. Poverty was another big issue with this retired pastor. He speaks of economic systems in place in America that trap people in impoverished conditions.

As general rule, I would say let the social activist say what he will. There is, however, a problem when a preacher of any evangelical group appears publicly and has nothing to say of the Gospel. Rev. Kandeler was given a national stage. Rather than turning the conversation at some point to Jesus Christ dying for the world’s sins, he decided to attack Pres. Bush on social issues.

In reality, most of us Christians do this everyday. We rarely turn conversations to the Gospel–or even the goodness of the Lord. We will talk about everything under the sun or maybe just about our favorite topics, but how often will we present the Good News that lost people can be forgiven? My anger Monday night quickly subsided when I realized that I have done the very same thing to waiters, cashiers, friends, and strangers that I have not given the Gospel. May the Lord help us to reach the world.

References:

Here is a link to the petition website: protectsmu.org.
And anther link to a article co-authored by Rev. Kandeler attacking a conservative element of the UMC.