Answering Atheists and Other Assorted Fools
February 28, 2009
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Guest: Ray Comfort, founder and evangelist, Living Waters
Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Yet, there is an increasing number of fools today (even highly educated ones like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Bill Maher) who scoff at the existence of God with a loud megaphone to an impressionable audience.
Good thing Christian evangelist and apologist Ray Comfort has just released an excellent new book entitled, You Can Lead an Atheist to Evidence But You Can’t Make Him Think. Comfort has heard it all from critics and skeptics…and has biblical answers for every one, including how they can know the God they reject. Find out how you can answer and reach atheists and other assorted fools this Saturday on The Christian Worldview.
The Holiness of God
February 28, 2009
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Guest: Dr. R.C. Sproul, founder and theologian, Ligonier Ministries
“Holy, holy, holy.” It’s the only description of God that is repeated three times for emphasis. Above all, God is holy, perfectly holy. Yet the holiness of God – and the believer’s responsibility to be holy – is a neglected topic in the church today when it is actually the launching point for understanding God and man’s need for salvation and sanctification.
The holiness of God is the theme of this year’s Ligonier National Conference in Orlando, March 19-21. Dr. R.C. Sproul, founder and theologian of Ligonier Ministries, will join me this Saturday to discuss this topic and his upcoming book, The Prayer of the Lord.
The Pornification of a Culture — What’s Going on in the Office Next Door?
February 26, 2009
The scourge of pornography is now so pervasive that it begins to define the culture at large. America is fast transforming itself from a society that allows and markets pornography into a culture that is pornographic. Boundary after boundary is being transgressed.
Adding insult to injury, courts have ruled that public libraries have no right to use filters that prevent viewing of pornography on public computers. Now, the marketers of pornography are looking to mobile devices and cell phones as the next frontier. There is no safe place in a society that embraces pornography as a major industry.
Just when you think you are past being shocked, The Washington Times now reports that pornography “is a major workplace problem in contemporary American society.” Just look at what the paper reports:
The porn-at-work phenomenon is pervasive enough, a 2007 survey by the American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute found, that 65 percent of American companies use porn-detecting software – a dramatic increase from 40 percent in 2001.
But the porn-detecting software is not preventing employees from viewing pornography. Look at this paragraph from the paper’s editorial:
Employees circumvent this by using laptop computers, cell phones and other portable devices. Even with blocks and filters on employee computers, those who really want to spend part of the workday viewing pornography can do so largely undetected. Consider that Sex Tracker, an adult search engine, reports that 70 percent of pornography is viewed between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. This gives a whole new meaning to the question: “What did you do at work today, honey?”
Just one salient fact within that paragraph is enough to arrest the attention. Seventy percent of all pornography is viewed during prime working hours — which means in the workplace.
The paper’s editorial concern was directed, first of all, to an investigation undertaken by Sen. Charles Grassley, ranking Republican member of the Committee on Finance. Sen. Grassley has demanded that the National Science Foundation, an agency funded by the U.S. government, explain why its own report indicates that the use of government computers within the agency to view pornography is now a “systematic problem.”
According to the report, one employee used 20 percent of his time viewing pornography at work. Sen. Grassley seems most concerned about the involvement of government monies here. After all, as the paper argues, “Certainly Americans do not want their tax dollars being used to pay employees for indulging their sexual fantasies.”
The paper also cites the danger of litigation when porn use could become an issue among employees. As the editorial states, “the workplace has become a center of pornographic voyeurism among some segment of American society.”
The Washington Times offers considerable insights in this editorial, looking far beyond the legal concerns to the moral issues at stake. Pornography is indeed a “squalid and perverted industry,” and porn at work is surely “a virulent cancer” that demands to be confronted.
Pornography is not just about dirty magazines and movies, or even just about the Internet and one-click-away sexual fantasies. Pornography now threatens to redefine the way this society views sex itself. The real danger here is that pornography becomes so pervasive that it is no longer distinguishable from the other images and messages transmitted and received within the culture.
A society that embraces pornography as a constitutionally protected form of “speech” will have a hard time policing sexually explicit material. When courts rule that filtering pornography from public computers in a public library is unconstitutional, the public library is transformed into a pornographic playground. When employees spend company time (and government funds) viewing pornography at work, the moral character of the entire enterprise is at stake.
The real cost of pornography cannot be reduced to lost hours of labor. The far larger issue is the cost to the nation’s soul. When public libraries become places parents do not let their children go, something precious is lost.
The real cost of pornography is measured in broken lives, broken marriages, broken children, and broken dreams. In reality, the true cost is spiritual, for pornography destroys the soul.
This one fact is enough to prove just how immense this problem is — 70 percent of pornography on the Internet is viewed at work. That explains why so many employees are distracted. It also underlines the fact that pornography is truly a spreading cancer. It will not easily be forced into retreat.
Cultural Faith…Is It Real Faith?
February 24, 2009
GUEST BLOGGER: Lee Duncan, Dean of Administration, The Master’s College.
Every four years the United States goes through the democratic, sometimes painful, election process to select a new president. Television and radio ads inundate the electorate with every conceivable spin that promotes certain candidates while denigrating others. Many Americans stop answering their phones at home because they cannot take any more pre-recorded sales pitches. Every day we hear news reports, read articles, or receive mail about everything from foreign policies to economic policies to educational reform ideas…all with the theme of how to bring “change” to America.
In recent elections there has been a much greater emphasis on the personal faith of the candidates, including how often they attend church, who is their pastor, what they think about God, and how their faith might influence their leadership and decision-making. A new kind of politically correct version of faith is emerging among many candidates and it prompts a question…is it real faith?
Not that long ago “faith” was a word that described a particular set of doctrinal beliefs that identified a person’s convictions that affected their lives and decisions. People would claim a certain denomination or doctrinal view as “their faith,” determined by allegiance to some written authority or church teaching. Even though not everyone agreed what source was the ultimate authority, at least most people agreed that an outside source was needed as a basis of truth. That is no longer the case in America. Today the term faith is used to say that a person believes in something of their own choosing; it does not rely on an external source but each creates his own truth. Political candidates can stand up and say they have faith without having to submit to the authority of God or Scripture; their faith is their own and frankly, they tell us, it is none of our business what specifically they believe because is it personal. This is not genuine faith, it is a cultural faith.
Our modern American culture has changed faith into a personal, nebulous, changing, and relative expression of spirituality. Political candidates stand up and say, “I have faith and it is personal.” From the position of an outsider, one might conclude that almost every candidate is a Christian who is committed to God. However, after further review, their faith is nothing more than an admission that they believe in something that they don’t want to talk about. Unfortunately, that seems enough for the average citizen because to most Americans religion is personal and we certainly don’t want to pry! Modern Americans are willing to accept that one who has faith is religious, regardless of what that faith entails. In reality, to state that you have faith today simply means that you consider yourself a spiritual person and that you have the right to believe whatever you choose. Faith is without accountability.
Biblical faith is something altogether different; it is based on an outside authoritative source that identifies that truth comes from God and is totally consistent with His Word, the Bible. The essence of the word “faith” is that it is a belief or trust in a higher power. Faith is a moral and spiritual quality of fidelity to God and confidence in His Word. “Faith is not simply the assent of the intellect to revealed truth; it is the practical submission of the entire man to the guidance and control of such truth” (Unger, 1957, p. 341). “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Faith is based on evidence that we can’t see (Heb. 11:1) and is a gift from God. God grants faith and then sustains faith through His eternal power. True faith submits to the Word of God; it is God’s view that we follow, His Word that we obey, and His will that we seek.
Political candidates, and yes, most Americans, see faith as something that is individual and that allows every person to believe whatever he or she thinks is right. All they have to do is say, “I have faith,” or “I am a person of faith,” and they are excused from explaining what they believe and by what authority they make claims to truth. Politicians say that God’s Word is informative, it is comforting, it is motivating, it is inspiring, but never will you hear one of them say, “It is authoritative.” Americans like their faith the way they define it and don’t want to be confined to a set of writings that has been handed down through the centuries. This is how political candidates can claim to be Christians but promote views that absolutely disagree with the Bible. They have faith all right, but not a biblical faith. Their faith is of their own making and there is no outside authority to which they must submit. It is a convenient faith, an easy faith, but ultimately, a coward’s faith because they never have to be accountable for what they believe.
Cultural faith is taking over America; in fact, if you just arrived from Pluto or Saturn you might believe that almost everyone in America is a Christian. Faith is not faith unless God affirms that it is. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone (John 14:6), God is the only source of truth (John 17:17), and God’s Word is His inspired message to mankind (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Unless faith is connected to these truths, then it is not faith at all. I am sorry, but faith is not a freedom to express your own views about life, abortion, alternate lifestyles, creation vs. evolution, etc. Our views only matter as they agree with God’s views. If you have true faith, your views must come from the one authoritative source that God has given us, His Word the Bible. Any other faith is simply a cultural faith…and that is not faith at all.
2009 Epicenter Conference
February 23, 2009
“With wars and rumors of wars dominating headlines, what does the future hold?” An expected 10,000 to gather in San Diego on April 4th at Epicenter Conference for answers to this and other questions
(Washington, D.C.) – Joel C. Rosenberg, the New York Times best-selling author of Epicenter: Why The Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future, announced today that on April 4th he will host the 2009 Epicenter Conference to examine several rising global geopolitical and economic crises in light of Bible prophecy. Rosenberg will be joined at the conference by Lt.-General (ret.) Jerry Boykin, the former commander of the Army’s elite Delta Force and the former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence; and Pastor Chuck Smith, the renowned Bible teacher, author, radio host and prophecy expert.
“With wars and rumors of wars dominating the Middle East, the eyes of the world are riveted on Israel, Iran and their neighbors, the epicenter of the dramatic events that are shaping our world and shaking our future,” said Rosenberg, whose new non-fiction book about the Mideast – Inside The Revolution – releases March 10th from Tyndale House Publishers.
“Americans are reading apocalyptic headlines out of the Middle East. They are looking for answers to questions like, Is there any chance of peace in the Middle East in the near future, or are we headed toward even more catastrophic wars? Why are Iran’s leaders saying the end of the world is near, and the way to hasten the coming of the Islamic Messiah is to annihilate the U.S. and Israel? What happens if Iran gets nuclear weapons? Why is Russia helping Iran go nuclear? How will coming events in the Middle East affect us as Americans, economically and geopolitically? Were the global crises we see unfolding today foretold thousands of years ago by the Hebrew prophets? And given the urgency of such crises, is there any hope in the world today?”
WHO: Joel C. Rosenberg, Pastor Chuck Smith, and Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Jerry Boykin
WHAT: The 2009 Epicenter Conference: Understanding Today’s Global Crises In Light of Bible Prophecy.
WHEN: April 4, 2009 – 9:00am to 4:00pm
WHERE: Cox Arena, San Diego, and web cast gavel to gavel at www.epicenter09.com
Rosenberg, who has more than 1.5 million copies of his political thrillers and non-fiction books in print and is often a guest on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, the History Channel and other networks, noted that the emergence of a new President of the United States and a new Prime Minister in Israel – as well as upcoming national elections in Iran in June – are developments that are adding to the volatility and uncertainty regarding the future of the Middle East and how Americans will be affected. He also cited the following recent headlines to underscore the timeliness of the 2009 Epicenter Conference:
* IRAN HOLDS ENOUGH URANIUM FOR NUCLEAR BOMB – Financial Times, 2/19/09
* Israel, Iran liable to clash in 2009 over nukes, says U.S. intel chief – Haaretz, a leading Israeli newspaper, 2/14/09
* Hayden: Iran near nuke decision; Departing CIA chief says American intelligence agency Tehran appears to be nearing decision on whether to build nuclear warhead – Associated Press, 1/16/09
* Iran president says Israeli leaders face ‘doomed end’ – Los Angeles Times, 1/16/09
* Russia to start Iran nuclear plant by year end – Reuters, 2/5/09
* Bin Laden urges jihad against Israel – Associated Press, 1/14/09
* Obama Turns to Mideast, Offers ‘New Way’ With Muslims – Bloomberg, 1/21/09
“Wherever General Boykin, Pastor Chuck Smith and I travel – throughout the United States and around the world – we meet people who are increasingly anxious about the future of the United States, the future of Israel, and the future of the Islamic world,” said Rosenberg, who recently returned home to Washington, D.C., after four weeks traveling through Israel, Iraq, India and the Persian Gulf region. “I am honored that these two distinguished experts in military intelligence and Bible prophecy respectively will be joining me to help Americans – and all who join us via the world wide web – better understand current events not just through the lenses of geopolitics and economics, but also through the ‘third lens’ of Scripture.”
The San Diego event will be the first Epicenter Conference held in the United States. In April 2008, Rosenberg, Boykin and Smith spoke at the inaugural Epicenter Conference which was held at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.
LATEST HEADLINES SUGGEST GLOBAL ANTI-ISRAEL SENTIMENT RISING:
Legalism: What Is It? What Isn’t It?
February 21, 2009
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The concept of “legalism” gets bantered around a lot today. Want to enact a dress code at your Christian school? Refuse to watch the latest Hollywood films with “R” and “PG-13″ ratings? Caution others about the world’s influence on Christian music? Expect a more reverent church service? Well, you might just be considered a legalist if you advocate for these positions.
But is this actually what the Bible calls legalism? Legalism is certainly condemned in Scripture (as is “license”). In Hour 2 of The Christian Worldview, we’ll get a biblical definition of legalism – what it is, what it isn’t – so that we can know how to apply the standards of God without falling into the pits of legalism or license.
The Victimization of America
February 21, 2009
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Guest: Ann Coulter, author, Guilty
The Divine Egotist — Is God Arrogant, Selfish, or Megalomaniacal?
February 20, 2009
Is the God of the Bible the supreme egotist? That question arises when human beings contemplate the meaning of the truth that God does everything for the sake of his own glory. Is God then a megalomaniac?
Human beings are trapped in a human frame of reference. When we think of motivation, we inevitably start with our own self-conscious knowledge of our own motivations. For a human to seek his or her own glory is narcissism in purest form. Human egotism is constantly on display. And, if we are honest, we know that we seek our own glory as a reflex.
In reality, this is the essence of sin. Our desire for glory is inherently idolatrous and selfish. Paul describes this perfectly in Romans 1:22-23: “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” This exchange that robs God of his glory is the very heart of sin. We want the glory that is God’s alone.
When we think of God, our reflex is to think in human terms. We are trapped in the knowledge that our efforts to glorify ourselves are perverse. Yet, if we are to think rightly of God, we must think in infinitely different terms, and the only way we can do this is by the gift of revelation. God must give us even the frame of reference with which we can think of him, and he does so in his Word.
The Bible tells us that God does all things for the sake of his own glory. As God spoke to his people through the prophet Ezekiel: “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes” [Ezekiel 36:22-23].
God’s saving acts are for the sake of his own glory, even as his people are redeemed. He acts to vindicate his own name and to display his own power and holiness. Creation itself displays his glory, extending to every atom and molecule. “The heavens declare the glory of God,” sings the Psalmist, and God created the world for the purpose of putting his glory on display [Psalm 19:1].
Ultimately, creation serves as the theater of the glory of God’s redeeming love. The drama of God’s redemption accomplished in Christ is the great story on display. In the consummation of history, the revelation of a new heaven and a new earth will become the platform for the manifestation of the glory of the triune God throughout eternity.
Does this make God a megalomaniac?
Our starting point for answering this question is the perfection of God. As the only perfect being, all that God does is perfect. He perfectly seeks to display his perfection. He is even jealous of his own glory. As John Calvin reminds us, “God is called jealous, because he permits no rivalry which may detract from his glory.” In a human this attitude would be ugly and contemptible. In God it is perfect and holy.
As Herman Bavinck expressed this truth, “God can rest in nothing other than himself and cannot be satisfied with anything less than himself. He has no alternative but to seek his own honor.” Similarly, though from a very different theological perspective, Karl Barth defined God’s glory as “his dignity and right, not only to maintain, but to prove and declare, to denote and almost as it were to make himself conspicuous and everywhere apparent as the One he is.”
This is merely the logic of what it means for God to be the one perfect being. As such, he cannot look beyond himself for anything or anyone greater. In an often-overlooked passage in Hebrews, we are told that “when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself” [Hebrews 6:13]. When humans take an oath, we naturally invoke God’s name. When God makes a promise, he can invoke no greater name then his own. This is not evidence of selfishness or narcissism — only an irrefutable logic.
Even so, some who are troubled by this question may remain puzzled. Even when God is understood to be the one perfect being, this still appears to be a cold logic.
The most important corrective to this misunderstanding is to realize that God’s glory is a generous and self-giving glory. His glory is his own joy, and the display of his glory brings his creatures true joy.
When a human glorifies himself, he robs others of joy. Self-aggrandizement and human megalomania cause hurt and harm to others, not blessing and joy.
But when God displays and exhibits his glory, he shares joy with his creatures and wholeness with all creation. Put most directly, without the knowledge of God’s glory, we would be robbed of true joy. God would be less than perfect — even selfish — if he did not display his glory and allow us to share in the divine joy and fulfillment.
Is God a megalomaniac . . . the transcendent Egotist? Of course not. In the truest sense, this is an arrogant and irresponsible question. How can God be other than he is in his perfection? But in another sense, the question is helpful, for it directs our thinking to the essence of God’s glory and resets our theological framework. God shows his love for us in the display of his glory and in his jealous concern for his own name and reputation. Our greatest joy is found in beholding his glory and in glorifying the triune God for all eternity.
Fallen creatures, blinded by sin, cannot see that to rob God of his glory is to rob ourselves of true joy. It takes the grace of God to make that known to us, and, incredibly enough, God glorifies himself in making himself known to sinners and in saving them through Christ’s perfect atonement for sin.
For now, we see the glory of God most perfectly displayed in the cross of Christ. That fact alone answers the question far more convincingly than any argument.
Soli Deo Gloria.
___________________
We will be talking about this question in a special edition of The Albert Mohler Program today, broadcast before a live audience of college students. Join us by broadcast or online.
REFERENCES:
Calvin, Four Last Books of Moses, I:423.
Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, II:434.
Barth, Church Dogmatics, II, 1:641. Barth, though neo-orthodox and deficient in many aspects of theology, nonetheless defined the essence of God’s glory in definitive terms.
Netanyahu Gets The Nod As U.N. Says Iran Has Enough Uranium To Build First Nuclear Bomb
February 20, 2009
Benjamin Netanyahu received the official word today from Israeli President Shimon Peres that he has six weeks to put together a coalition to lead the next government of Israel. The announcement came as the U.N. announced that Iran now has enough highly enriched uranium to build its first nuclear weapon.
Given the seriousness of the growing crisis with Iran, Netanyahu is calling for a broad “unity government” that would include Tzipi Livni’s Kadima party. “For decades we have not withstood so many challenges at the same time,” said Netanyahu. “To face up to these challenges we need to join hands and unite all the forces within the people. I call on all parties, those who recommended me and those who didn’t. I turn to [Kadima leader Tzipi] Livni and to [Labor leader Ehud] Barak — let us join hands and pledge for the future of Israel. I hope to meet with you first and discuss a wide unity government.”
Livni, however, today said she refuses to serve with Netanyahu. ”Today, the foundations of a right-wing extremist government under Netanyahu were set,” Livni wrote in a text message sent to 80,000 Kadima members. “The path of such a government is not our own and we have nothing to look for there. You didn’t vote for us in order to provide a kosher certificate for a right-wing government, and we need to provide an alternative of hope from the opposition.”
The big question for Netanyahu, however, may not be how best to form his government, but how his government — whatever form it takes — will interact President Barack Obama, given the deep fissures between the two men over how to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed power.
“Iran is developing nuclear weapons and poses the greatest threat to our existence since the War of Independence,” said Netanyahu. “Iran’s terror wings surround us from the north and south” Based on my conversations with Israel’s next Prime Minister, I believe Netanyahu fundamentally understands the apocalyptic, genocidal Islamic eschatology driving Iran’s current leaders. By contrast, I am convinced that President Obama or Secretary of State Clinton do not understand at all the End Times beliefs of the current leaders of Iran, and are thus making wrong policy choices based on their lack of understanding. Let us pray, therefore, that as Mr. Netanyahu forms his government and then meets with President Obama and top U.S. leaders that he is able to help American officials understand who they are dealing with in Tehran, and find a way to work together to stop Iran before it is too late.
HEADLINES TO TRACK:
* Iran holds enough uranium for bomb
* Israel’s Peres: Netanyahu will form new government
Israel Waits for Peres’ Decision
February 19, 2009
Israelis are waiting for President Shimon Peres’ decision regarding which Member of Knesset (MK) is most likely to be able to form a stable governing coalition. Already, 50 MKs have told Peres they are backing Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu to be the next Prime Minister. Only 28 MKs have told Peres they back Kadima’s Tzipi Livni. One of the big questions at this point concerns who Avigdor Lieberman and his Israeli Beiteinu party will back. Lieberman is expected to return to Israel tonight from a vacation in Minsk and is scheduled to meet Peres Thursday morning. Developing….
HEADLINES TO TRACK:
- Israel’s Peres begins consulting parties on PM
- President Peres concedes he was wrong to back Gaza pullout in 2005
- Barak tells IDF: Iran nukes are an existential threat to Israel
- Slow Obama stance on Iran nukes worries Israel
- Man who founded Muslim TV station accused of beheading his estranged wife in Buffalo
- Israeli unemployment rises 15%
- MEMRI: Turkish officials moving to form new alliance with Iran
- Manila arrests Islamist over plot to attack Israeli, U.S. embassies
- Iran hails energy ties with Russia
- Iran, Russia Hold Defense Summit in Moscow
- Russia won’t toughen policy on Iran
- Iran minister seeks missiles on Russia trip
- Obama OKs about 17,000 more troops for Afghanistan
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