Giving Thanks For … Tim Tebow?
November 27, 2010
Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:47 — 8.7MB)
Guest: Mike Yorkey, Author, “Playing With Purpose”
“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” I Thessalonians 5:18
When you think of Thanksgiving, what do you think of? The Pilgrims? Family gatherings? Turkey and all the trimmings?
In 2010 America, these traditions are being supplemented with a new one — football. On Thanksgiving Day, millions of Americans gathered around the television to watch three National Football League (NFL) games and will do so again over the weekend for the full slate of NFL games. Like it or not, NFL football has become as much a part of Thanksgiving as … “Black Friday” shopping the day after.
There are three first-year quarterbacks in the NFL that you should know about, even if you don’t watch or like football because they are poised to do what most athletes do not — make a positive impact on our culture. They are Tim Tebow (Denver Broncos), Colt McCoy (Cleveland Browns), and Sam Bradford (St. Louis Rams). By all accounts, all three are more than “Thank you Jesus for winning this game” type of Christians, but rather are deeply committed followers of Jesus Christ.
Mike Yorkey, author of over 70 books and our guest this weekend on The Christian Worldview, has just written a new book about these three young men entitled “Playing with Purpose”. It profiles how they were raised and how their faith sets them apart. We will ask how parents should balance using these three as role models while realizing they are but men.
Additional Resources:
Interview with Dr. Varner while guest hosting for the Janet Mefford Show
Read more
Guest Hosting on Janet Mefford Show
November 27, 2010
David filled in as a guest host on The Janet Mefford Show this past Wednesday. You can listen to the audio from each hour here. Simply click on the title for each show which is linked on Janet Mefford’s site to the audio.
Hour 1: Raising Your Own Tim Tebow
Guest: Mike Yorkey, author, Playing With Purpose
Hour 2: Giving Thanks for even the Hard Things
Guest: Dr. William Varner, Professor, The Master’s College
Hour 3: The Agenda to Fundamentally Transform America
Guest: Curtis Bowers, Producer, “Agenda” DVD film
The “Agenda” to Fundamentally Transform America
November 20, 2010
Podcast: Download (Duration: 59:50 — 10.3MB)
Guest: Curtis Bowers, Producer, “Agenda: Grinding America Down”
They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:4
A couple months ago, I received a pre-release copy of the brand new award-winning DVD film, “Agenda: Grinding America Down”. It would not be any exaggeration to say that it is one of the most important and informative films I have ever seen.
This award-winning 90-minute film shows how the “progressive” movement with its socialistic roots tirelessly works to tear down the Christian foundations of America — from the family to free enterprise to education to culture to morality. I knew about some of the issues highlighted in the film but I have never seen them put together so well in one place.
That is why I asked Curtis Bowers, the producer and director of “Agenda”, to join us this weekend on The Christian Worldview. You will hear sound bites from the film and Curtis’ insights on the “agenda” to “fundamentally transform America”. Read more
Receive the Award-Winning DVD Film “Agenda” with $25 Donation to The Christian Worldview
November 18, 2010
I first heard of the film Agenda: Grinding America Down when Dr. David Noebel, founder of Summit Ministries, handed me a DVD copy this past summer. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was one of the most informative and important films I have ever seen.
This award-winning 90-minute film shows how the progressive movement has been tearing down the Christian foundations of our country — from the family to free enterprise to culture to morality. In this day of Islamic terrorism, it is natural to think that the worldview of communism is no longer a threat yet those who desire to “fundamentally transforming America” are working harder than ever to undermine this country.
We all need to be informed so we can understand and respond biblically and that is why we are offering a FREE copy of this DVD with any donation of $25 or more before December 31, 2010. After watching this DVD, I have a sneaking suspicion you will be coming back for more copies to give to your friends and family.
This video by Curtis Bowers, former Idaho state representative, is a must-see. The film recently received the Jubliee Grand Prize at the 2010 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.
Watch the trailer for the film below:
AGENDA: Grinding America Down (Trailer) from Copybook Heading Productions LLC on Vimeo.
The film features interviews with Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, Dr. Jim Bowers, the late Dr. Robert Chandler, Beverley Eakman, M. Stanton Evans, Bryan Fischer, Dr. David Gibbs, Jr., Brannon Howse, Cliff Kincaid, Congressman Steve King, Gen. Ed Meese lll, Dr. David Noebel, Hon. Howard Phillips, Janet (Folger) Porter, Sen. H.L. Richardson, Phyllis Schafly, Jim Simpson, Mike Smith Esq., John Stormer, Tim Wildmon, Wendy Wright and Trevor Loudon.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR DONATION AND TO RECEIVE YOUR FREE COPY OF AGENDA
Note: For every $25 you donate over the $25 minimum amount, you qualify to receive another copy of the DVD but you must specify in the comment section of the order form that you would like additional copies. In other words, if you donate $50, $75, $100, etc. and leave the comment section blank, you will be sent one DVD.
How Islamic Eschatology Impacts the World
November 13, 2010
Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:48 — 8.7MB)
Guest: Joel Rosenberg, author, The Twelfth Imam
“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance” (Matthew 24:23-25).
Maybe you’ve heard Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, begin his speeches to the United Nations in New York calling for “al Mahdi”, the Muslim “messiah” known as the Twelfth Imam, to come to earth to save the world (if you haven’t, you’ll hear the audio of Ahmadinejad calling out to al Mahdi this Saturday).
So what’s the big deal, isn’t this guy just some freak from the Middle East? Well, considering Muslims like Ahmadinejad believe it is their duty to instigate events on earth to hasten the Twelfth Imam’s coming such as attacking the Great Satan, America, or the Little Satan, Israel, we would all do well to pay attention … especially President Barack Obama who gave an appeasing answer to a question he received in India this week about what he thought of “jihad” (you’ll hear that audio too).
Joel Rosenberg, author of seven New York Times Bestsellers and the new novel, The Twelfth Imam
As President Obama Hits Israel Again, Canada’s Prime Minister Yet Again Proves Himself To Be The Most Pro-Israel Leader On The Planet
November 12, 2010
President Barack Obama unfairly criticized Israel yesterday while visiting Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country. While visiting mosques and meeting Muslim leaders and giving speeches about building better relations with Muslims, the President gratuitously chose to criticize the Jewish State for daring to announce the building of some 1,300 new apartments in Jerusalem to deal with the city’s population growth. The President said such moves were an impediment to the peace process with the Palestinians.
“This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations,” said President Obama. “I’m concerned that we’re not seeing each side make the extra effort involved to get a breakthrough…Each of these incremental steps can end up breaking trust.”
Unhelpful? Breaking trust? You’ve got to be kidding me. Netanyahu imposed a 10 month moratorium on new building in Jerusalem and the West Bank as a goodwill gesture to the Palestinians to encourage them to begin direct peace negotiations. Yet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas squandered nine of those months by refusing to enter such talks. Then Abbas engaged for a few weeks, but refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish State, refused to agree to the Palestinians having a demilitarized state, and now has broken off direct talks and refuses to reengage with Netanyahu, even though Israel is offering to allow the creation of a Palestinian state.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, currently visiting the U.S., immediately responded to President Obama’s criticism: “Jerusalem is not a settlement; Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel.” He is absolutely correct. Israel has every right to build homes for Jews, Muslims and Christians in her capital. The “unhelpful” intransigence is on the Palestinian side. If Abbas wants a state, he should negotiate for one directly and in good faith, not wait for President Obama to force Israel to accept Abbas’ demands.
Moreover, the critical question facing the U.S., Israel, and the world right now should not be stopping the building of apartments in Jerusalem but stopping the building of nuclear weapons in Iran. Yet the Obama administration is not taking decisive action to stop Iran from getting the Bomb, and refuses to put a credible military threat against Iran on the table.
Contrast President Obama’s deeply unfriendy approach towards Israel with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s consistently courageous pro-Israel approach.
* Harper was the first world leader to order his UN delegation to walk out of a speech at the UN General Assembly by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad several years ago.
* Harper was the first world leader to announce Canada would not be sending a delegation to the UN’s ”Durban II” conference which was supposed to be about opposing racism but turned into a vicious anti-Israel forum whose keynote speaker was Ahmadinejad, a man who has denied the Holocaust and has repeatedly called for the “annihilation” of the Jewish State.
* When the Gaza flotilla crisis unfolded, Harper stood strongly with Israel’s right to defend herself from terrorist and left-wing activist attacks, whereas the White House equivocated.
* In contrast to President Obama, Prime Minister Harper has built a warm and increasingly close professional relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
* Harper has strongly urged the world to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program before it is too late.
* Harper has been so pro-Israel that Canada recently lost a bid to be on the UN Security Council because anti-Israel countries coalesced against Canada and prevented her from attaining such a globally influential position.
This week, Prime Minister Harper delivered a major address saying he and the people of Canada will continue to stand with Israel and defend the Jewish people no matter what the cost.
“As long as I am prime minister, whether it is at the UN or the Francophonie or anywhere else, Canada will take that stand, whatever the cost,” Harper told a conference on anti-Semitism. ”Not just because it is the right thing to do but because history shows us, and the ideology of the anti-Israeli mob tells us all too well, that those who threaten the existence of the Jewish people are a threat to all of us.”
“We must be relentless in exposing this new anti-Semitism for what it is,” Harper said. According to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, Harper noted that Israel, like any country, may be subjected to fair criticism, he said. But Harper said Canada must oppose what he called the “three Ds — demonization, double standards and delegitimization.”
“‘And like any free country Israel subjects itself to such criticism, healthy, necessary, democratic debate. But when Israel, the only country in the world whose very existence is under attack, is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe we are morally obligated to take a stand.’”
Please lift Harper and his family, advisors, and his country up to the Lord. Please ask the Lord to bless them, to continue giving them courage and boldness. Please ask the Lord, as well, what we as evangelical Christians can do to properly thank and bless the Prime Minister for the courage of his convictions.
* Watch a 4:49 minute YouTube clip of Prime Minister Harper’s pro-Israel speech
* Read some Canadian media coverage of Harper’s speech
* Read Jerusalem Post coverage of Harper’s speech
The Second Great Commandment
November 9, 2010
Guest Blogger: Phil Johnson of Pyromaniacs
When some Pharisees put Jesus to the test concerning the greatest of all God’s commandments, He answered with a quotation from Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
“This is the first and great commandment,” He told them. “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matt. 22:38-39).
What did He mean when He said the two commandments are alike? Well, obviously, they both deal with love. The first calls for wholehearted love toward God, a love that consumes every human faculty. The second calls for charitable love toward one’s neighbor—a humble, sacrificial, serving love. Jesus said all the Law and the prophets hang on those two commandments, so the entire Law is summed up in the principle of love. “Love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10). Both commandments make that point.
But there’s another sense in which the second great commandment is just like the first. Loving one’s neighbor is simply the natural and necessary extension of true, wholehearted love for God, because your neighbor is made in the image of God.
God’s image in every person is the moral and ethical foundation for every commandment that governs how we ought to treat our fellow humans. Scripture repeatedly makes this clear. Why is murder deemed such an especially heinous sin? Because killing a fellow human being is the ultimate desecration of God’s image (Gen. 9:6).
In the New Testament, James points to the image of God in men and women as an argument for allowing even our speech to be seasoned with grace and kindness. It is utterly irrational, he says, to bless God while cursing people who are made in God’s own likeness (James 3:9-12).
That same principle is an effective argument against every kind of disrespect or unkindness one person might show to another. For example, to ignore the needs of suffering people is to treat the image of God in them with outright contempt. Proverbs 17:5 says, “He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker.” Neglecting the needs of a person who is “hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison” is tantamount to scorning the Lord Himself. That’s exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 25:44-45: “Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.”
Who is our neighbor? That’s the question a lawyer asked Jesus when He affirmed the priority of the first and second commandments (Luke 10:29). In response, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, poignantly making the point that anyone and everyone who crosses our path is our neighbor—and truly loving them as ourselves means seeking to meet whatever needs they might have.
One of Jesus’ main points in that parable was this: we’re not to love our own brethren and fellow believers to the exclusion of strangers and unbelievers. God’s image was placed in humanity at creation, not at redemption. Although the image of God was seriously marred by Adam’s fall, it was not utterly obliterated. The divine likeness is still part of fallen humanity; in fact, it is essential to the very definition of humanity. Therefore every human being, whether a derelict in the gutter or a deacon in the church, ought to be treated with dignity and compassionate love, out of respect for the image of God in him.
The restoration of God’s image in fallen humanity is one of the ultimate goals of redemption, of course. God’s paramount purpose for every Christian involves perfect Christ-likeness (Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2). That will consummate the complete restoration and utter perfection of God’s image in all believers, because Christ himself is the supreme flesh-and-blood image of God (Col. 1:15).
But if you’re a believer, your conformation to Christ’s likeness is gradually being accomplished even now by the process of your sanctification (2 Cor. 3:18). In the meantime, Jesus taught that one of the best ways to be like God is to love even your enemies. Not only do they bear God’s image, but (more to Jesus’ point) loving them is the best way for us to be like God, because God Himself loves even those who hate Him.
Of course, the prevailing rabbinical tradition in Jesus’ day claimed that “enemies” are not really “neighbors.” In effect, that nullified the second great commandment. It was like saying you don’t really have to love anyone whom you hate. All kinds of disrespect and unkindness became impervious to the Law’s correction.
Jesus confronted the error head on: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:43-45).
Your enemy is made in God’s image and is therefore deserving of your respect and kindness. More important, Jesus said, if you want to be more like God—if you want the image of God to shine more visibly in your life and behavior—here’s the way to do it: love even your enemies.
Remember, “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). Such love, expressed even toward our enemies, is the mark of the true Christian, because it is the most vivid expression of God’s image in His own people. “As He is, so are we in this world” (v. 17).
Change You Can Really Believe In
November 6, 2010
Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:48 — 8.7MB)
Guest: Burk Parsons, Editor, Tabletalk Magazine, Ligonier Ministries
How do Americans, in 2008, enthusiastically elect the candidate of “change”, President Barack Obama, and then just two years later, completely change their minds and elect new political leaders with a worldview of governance in stark contrast to the President’s?
Whereas the nature of God never changes and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, forever”, the same can not be said for humans. One constant of man is that he is always changing: students change their beliefs when they go off to college, politicians change their principles when they get to Washington DC, and Christian institutions and individuals often change from biblical soundness to heretical compromise.
Yet change can also be good, if it moves us closer to God’s will. Burk Parsons, the editor of Tabletalk Magazine for Ligonier Ministries, joins us on The Christian Worldview this weekend to discuss the changing nature of man and how we can change for the better to the glory of God.
The Morning After — What Does it All Mean?
November 3, 2010
The meaning of the 2010 election is destined now to be the Great Debate of the next political season. While this is true after most election days, it is especially true this year, given the scale and scope of the political change this election will bring about. The scale is seismic and the scope is vast. In terms of national politics, this election amounts to a megashift.
What does it all mean? It is far too early to answer that question in any comprehensive sense. After all, a good number of the races are yet too close to call. We do know that Republicans will control the U.S. House of Representatives, and by a considerable margin. The political equation of the Senate has been reset, as has the context in many of the states. For the third national election in a row, the party in power received a resounding repudiation — a political reversal that is clearly intended to send a message.
What are we to make of this?
First, we must remember that elections are about ideas. A seismic election like this one is especially about ideas. In this case, an unmistakable message was directed to President Barack Obama. There was a massive judgment on his policies and leadership. His ideological liberalism is not shared by a majority of America’s voters. His association with the values of the intellectual elites and his commitment to an expanding role of government distanced him from the electorate. Americans will now watch to see if the President got the message.
Second, it will take some time to discover how this new Congress will function. There is no shared philosophy of government yet to be detected, only a few shared principles and impressions. There is a vast distance between running for office and holding office. Campaigning and governing require different skill sets and different commitments. There will be a lot of reality therapy in coming weeks.
Third, Americans will soon learn the difference between conservatism and libertarianism. A good many of the new faces in Washington will have been supported by the Tea Party movement, and a good number of these are committed to the worldview and political philosophy of libertarianism. Many conservatives are as yet unable to tell the difference. They are likely to learn fast.
Fourth, the relative absence of hot-button social issues from the election debate will not last. The issue of same-sex marriage will inevitably be nationalized within the next two years, in the courts if not in Congress. The issue of abortion will not go away, nor will human embryonic stem cell research and a host of other controversies. Even as these issues are reshaped by new developments, you can count on them coming back to the forefront.
Fifth, the demographics of this election tell a number of interesting stories. The most interesting of these is the relative withdrawal of the youth vote so crucial to the momentum behind the Obama campaign in 2008. Statistics available late on election night indicate that the fall-off in the youth vote may be as high as half. Are younger Americans interested only in electing a President?
Sixth, a political shift of this magnitude beings a multitude of personal consequences. One of the limitations of the democratic process is that is offers very few opportunities to lose an office or a campaign without losing heart. Among those who lost their seats last night were many who had served for years. They, along with staff, must now pack up their belongings, close out their business, and make way for the new. Even those who worked for their defeat must understand the personal trauma. Good men and women put their lives on hold and ran in races they lost. Last night many of them had to make the call they dreaded to make, and then deliver the speech no one wants to deliver. This, too, deserves our notice.
Evangelical Christians have moved through several phases of political engagement in recent decades. Coming out of wilderness years of relative withdrawal from interest in politics, evangelicals joined the Religious Right with eagerness and great expectations. But, even as some important legislative and bureaucratic victories were won, the Religious Right never fulfilled its many promises. Now, a good many evangelicals, young and old, are rethinking the political equation once again.
Evangelicals tend to swing between extremes when it comes to politics and elections. We are too easily elated and too readily depressed. Make no mistake, the election results of 2010 will lead to big changes in Washington and far beyond. That in itself is good news. But all this must be put in a truly Christian context.
Christians are supposed to be the people who know the dangers of investing either too much confidence in the political system, or too little. The election is over. Now is the time for Christians to pray for those who were elected and for the government they will serve. Things are going to get interesting fast.
I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AlbertMohler.
The Christian Worldview – Now on Facebook
November 2, 2010
If you follow The Christian Worldview Radio Program, you know that we offer podcasts, click and play archives, blog posts and Twitter updates (@ThChrstnWrldvw). And now we have joined Facebook! You can find us under David Wheaton (via email: feedback@TheChristianWorldview.com) and on our Facebook page for The Christian Worldview.
As part of The Christian Worldview Facebook page, we will be posting articles, videos, comments and starting “discussions”. Yesterday’s discussion question was:
What is the biggest objection to Christianity that you face when you witness to someone?
This past weekend we talked to guest, Alex McFarland, and discussed the top 5 reasons he has found that people object to Christianity. What objections do you face and how do you answer them?
Be the first to post a response.
We look forward to meeting you on Facebook!
