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Current Events
Introduction: The Purpose and Meaning of this Website
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Current Events Issues relevant to the Church today, particularly the Church in the United States. |
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The Wounded Apologist My God, My God, Why is the Bible in Error?" Christianity owes tremendous gratitude to the apologist, a part of the infantry on the front lines of a deadly encounter, to those who put their lives on the line for their brothers and sisters. They confront, on a regular basis, dark, deadly forces and a logic that is well beyond human reasoning. They boldly engage the evil one, the manipulator of the race. They fearlessly confront the lies of the day, defending the truth, the reality of Jesus Christ and the true paradigm of spiritual existence. In addition to their assault on the front, they also receive assaults from the rear. The spiritual elite sometimes sneer at them, perhaps thinking that they are not spiritual enough, that they have entangled themselves in relativism. The Christian community should remember that academics, theologians brought about the Reformation. The academic makes translations of the Bible available to all Christians in every language. The academic stands in the face of the wisdom of the age, the apologist boldly defending the faith while most are running after a spiritual high. The body of Christ owes much to this group. They are the forgotten battalion. The Church has retained much ground in the American culture because of the thankless though courageous efforts of the apologist.
The article “My God, My God, Why is the Bible in Error?” addresses one incident of apologetic faltering. The first part, “Truly Too Good to be True,” shows the big picture. It shows the dire need for apologists today, but also the “stumbling blocks” over which they may falter. The rest of the article confronts the deadly temptation, in falling to skeptical logic, of altering the words of the Bible. It speaks directly to wounded apologists and to those who have accepted what may sound appealing to the ear, but which corrodes the historical premise of the Cross of Jesus Christ. The more one looks into this profound revelation from heaven, then the more startling and unfathomable it becomes. It is beyond human comprehension what the eternal God had planned for us. |
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The Duration of Human Life How long can individual human beings expect to live? With all things being equal, laying aside traumatic events that snuff out life prematurely, what is the number of days that one is likely to see? One biblical interpretation sets the number at 43,830, or 120 years. This view explains that this is God's intention, providing that people keep their priorities straight, maintaining uprightness of heart before Him. This interpretation springs from one small phrase found in Genesis. The article, The '120 Years' Anomaly, confronts this view. It argues that this theory stands upon very faulty premises. It is a flight of fancy and has no biblical support nor has it proved true for the most part in historical practice. It is a theory that does not hold water. More importantly however, the fact that this interpretation exists at all reveals something about the character of the Church today. It is possible to see this theory as an indicator of deeper issues churning beneath the surface. Ultimately, it exposes the inward, subconscious grappling with the quintessential element of human existence, or more precisely its duration. It is the unspoken yet undeniable fact of sure and personal termination. Everyone will die.
However, this should be so much more than merely cognitive ascent, or simply a tenet of agreed doctrine. This truth should be a foundational truth, a pillar, a bulwark of individual consciousness, an abiding reality experienced daily from the heart in the presence of the deathless God. Christians will once again walk in the reality of their eternal inheritance. They will personally reign in Christ triumphant over their own termination, their own death. They will once again confront this basic issue of life (that is, death) head on. The Church then will begin showing the fallen world the glory of the eternal world, that she indeed has the answers to every lost person’s desperate dilemma. This truth is so much more glorious than a flight of fancy and a desire to live a mere 120 years. The truth is Life Eternal, begun in the here and now, and will continue forever in the splendor of Jesus Christ the Lord. |
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No soldier on service gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to satisfy the one who enlisted him. II Timothy 2:4 The Christian has but one aim: to satisfy their Lord and King, Jesus Christ. The enlistment into Christian service is a call to arms. The call is to battlefronts where there are real battles. The battles are on three particular fronts: against the flesh, against the devil, and against the world. Here is an article that reexamines these battlefronts. It is entitled, The Fronts of the Christian War. It is in 10 parts and downloadable in RTF format. Of course, the battles on these three fronts have been ongoing since the Church came into existence. Every Christian who has ever lived has had to face this war. Therefore, this issue never looses its relevancy. Each Christian should be aware of the aim, the purpose of the conflict in which they find themselves. These are not arbitrary battles. They have profound and eternal significance. As individual Christians learn to disengage from "civilian pursuits," yield wholeheartedly to their Savior and Lord, and more aggressively engage in the battles that are all around them, then the Church entire will "arise and shine," pushing back the darkness, and thus setting the theater for the climatic battle that will end the age. |
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