Tag Archives: Practical Christianity

News

Will you be allowed to pursue a Christian life plan in a Biden/Harris presidency?

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Enraged Joe Biden howls out his hatred for Bible-believing Christians
Enraged Joe Biden howls out his hatred for Bible-believing Christians

One thing for certain. If Biden/Harris wins in November, I’ll be marking this blog as private before the end of the year, and that will be it for me writing on moral issues or supporting Christian exclusivism. We don’t have to look too far to see why that will be the prudent course of action.

Let’s start with this article from the Washington Examiner, about Kamala Harris – who will almost CERTAINLY be president at some point during Biden’s first term.

It says:

Unlike some Democrats, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s choice for running mate, isn’t neutral about religious liberty or pro-life issues: Her record shows she has aggressively opposed them both out of principle and for political gain. Religious liberty is hardly a lone conservative concept or a topic where only the political Right retains authority (it’s guaranteed by the Constitution). A look through Harris’s record as California’s attorney general and as a senator shows how she might govern on these issues alongside Biden, and it’s disturbing.

[…]Harris seems to disdain people of faith actively, and her record shows this too. When Hobby Lobby approached the Supreme Court asking for an exemption to Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate, Harris was already the attorney general of California. In 2014, she filed an amicus brief, telling the Supreme Court not to give Hobby Lobby a religious exemption. “Rights to the free exercise of religious beliefs, whether created by statute or by the Constitution, likewise protect the development and expression of an ‘inner sanctum’ of personal religious faith,” she wrote. “Free-exercise rights have thus also been understood as personal, relating only to individual believers and to a limited class of associations comprising or representing them.”

Worse, her logic was flawed. Like many who opposed the exemption, she claimed it would prevent women from getting comprehensive healthcare, which is absurd. Thankfully, the Supreme Court disagreed, and Hobby Lobby won that case in what is now a landmark ruling for religious liberty.

Regarding Joe Biden, there’s this post from PJ Media, about his address to the largest LGBT organization in America:

Biden announced at an event in Ohio on Saturday that his number one priority, if elected, will be to enshrine LGBTQ rights into federal law via the Equality Act, a contentious, Orwellian effort by left-wing bullies to silence Christians who believe biblical teachings on marriage and reject the view that boys can be girls and girls can be boys.

During a half-hour speech at the Hum4n R1ghts C4mp4ign’s annual gala in Columbus, Ohio, Biden said, “It’s wrong and it is immoral what [the Trump administration] is doing,” citing efforts to bar transgender troops from the U.S. military and protect medical providers from being forced to violate their consciences.

[…]During his speech Biden portrayed LGBTQ individuals as victims, ignoring the fact that it is people of faith who have been the big losers in this war of ideas. Bakery owners are being sued out of existence, medical professionals are being pressured to embrace transgender ideology, and major corporations are pulling their business out of states that seek to protect religious freedom — which, by the way, is what made Mike Pence Public Enemy #1 in the eyes of the cultural revolutionaries.

[…]”The current vice president uses religious freedom as an excuse to license discrimination across broadly [sic] areas and denying LGBTQ Americans their basic rights. It is wrong and it is immoral what they are doing,” he declared.

“Just look at how much damage has been done in the past two weeks,” Biden said. […]The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced plans to allow homeless shelters to turn away transgender people. This is beyond the scope of anything remotely what we’ve seen before.”

He was not luke warm. He is enthusiastic about using government to crush all who dissent against sexual purity and natural marriage. And that’s not surprising when you look at the rape accusations against him, and the sexual immorality of his son Hunter Biden.

We’ve had Trump/Pence for 4 years, and religious liberty hasn’t been harmed. Religious liberty is important to me. I need to be able to earn a living as a Christian, and spend my money on a Christian life plan. I can’t allow myself to be forced into a choice between complying with secular leftist tyranny and starving because I’m not allowed to work.

So, I won’t be voting for a Biden/Harris ticket in November. For people who care about policy, the only rational option is four more years of Trump/Pence.

Podcasts

Two great podcasts from J. Warner Wallace of Please Convince Me

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J Warner Wallace and Please Convince Me
J Warner Wallace and Please Convince Me

Please Convince Me is my absolute favorite podcast. The host, J. Warner Wallace, is a cold case homicide detective. He has a real job! And he talks about Christian things like you might expect a detective to talk – everything is logic, case-making and evidence. Very cool.

Why Being Respected Is Better Than Being Liked

The MP3 file is here.

The most interesting segment starts at 8 minutes and ends at 21 minutes in.

Topics

  • humans have an innate desire to be liked and to fit in with their peers
  • there are times when our desire to do what is right will conflict with the desire to be liked and to fit in
  • 1 Peter talks about how Christian living in the world will often have these conflicts
  • Christians have a different standard and that creates conflicts with the surrounding culture
  • at times like this, it is important for us to be RESPECTED rather than LIKED
  • being a Christian conflicts with the goal of being popular
  • two ways for us to proceed: 1) agree with others, 2) be who you are and let others agree with you
  • James also says that there is a conflict between being friends with the world and friends with God
  • you cannot have both friendship with the world and friendship with God
  • even non-believers understand that there is a conflict between morality and the hedonistic culture\
  • courage is needed in order to resist the pressure to embrace the beliefs of others in order to be liked
  • courage is needed in order to point others to the truth so that they change to match what is true
  • politicians often change their positions in order to appeal to the culture
  • politicians seem to shy away from trying to argue through why others should accept their positions
  • we should seek to influence others by explaining why others should accept what we believe
  • we should have the courage to make the case for what we believe
  • even if people do not accept our beliefs, they will still respect the way we can make the case
  • they will respect our courage in being willing to prepare a case and make the case in public
  • they will respect that we have not formed our beliefs based on feelings
  • we need to get better at knowing more stuff and communicating that knowledge better
  • wanting to be popular is too easy
  • we should take the harder path and desire to be respected instead of liked

Other topics from listeners:

  • the interpretation of “thou shalt not kill” in the Bible
  • can a person still be a Christian if they are not doing works, like tithing or serving in the church?
  • theistic evolution and the presumption of naturalism in science

And here’s another good podcast – it’s on the same topic as the PCM post I linked before.

Stop Teaching Young Christians About Their Faith

The MP3 is here.

Topics:

  • our nation is becoming more and more secular
  • secularism makes it harder for us to defend our faith and values in public and influence the culture
  • why is secularism happening? it’s because young people are walking away from the faith
  • young Christians are leaving the faith in high school and college
  • this is where the real battleground is – and that’s where apologists need to focus
  • we need to be focused especially on junior high school and high school, and to a lesser degree college
  • it’s good that we have lots scholars working physics, philosophy and biology
  • but what we really need is ordinary Christians to get serious about apologetics and work on young people
  • some people believe that there is no great youth exodus problem: are they right to doubt the statistics
  • it’s undeniable that young people are inarticulate about their faith – that much is certain
  • what young people in church actually believ is not Christianity, but moralistic therapeutic deism
  • young people: life is about feeling good, being liked, and nice people of all religions are saved
  • young people think that there is so little substance to Christianity that it can’t even be discussed
  • the focus among young people today is not on true beliefs, but on being kinds to others
  • even in churches, there is higher respect for helping others than on having knowledge and evidence
  • instead of focusing on the worldview that grounds good works, the focus is on good works
  • young people have learned to minimize discussions about specifics of theology
  • teachers and college professors are hostile to public expressions of evangelical Christianity
  • television is also hostile and much less Christian than it used to be
  • even if young people come back to the church, they come back for the wrong reasons
  • the adults come back for tradition and comfort but they don’t really believe Christianity is true
  • they want to pick and choose what they believe based on what they like, like going to a buffet
  • they return to church when they have kids so that their kids will absorb values – but not truth
  • that’s what we have sitting in the pews: people who think Christianity is false, but “useful”
  • and that’s why so many christians are so liberal on social values (abortion, same-sex marriage)
  • they don’t really accept the Bible as authoritative, they pick and choose what they like and don’t like
  • if Christianity is taught as “useful” then they will dump it when they find something more “useful”
  • people who leave the church are exposed to Christianity, but it doesn’t stick
  • young people lose their faith before college, and then when they escape the nest, they act it out
  • the disconnecting from the faith occurs in high school, but it only becomes public after they leave home
  • young people are becoming more focused on redefining “the good life” with consumption and materialism
  • the typical experience of young adults involves alcohol use, drug use, and recreational sex
  • young people actually want more than niceness – they want real answers to serious questions
  • young people have doubts and questions, but no one in the church or home is equipped to answer them
  • adults have to be involved in the education of young people
  • parents who are engaged in teaching their children Christian truths see much better retention rates
  • we need to stop teaching people (one-way preaching) and start training them (two-way interactive)
  • when you give a young person a definite goal – a fight with a date certain – then they will be engaged
  • when people know that they will fail unless they can perform, then they will be more engaged in learning
  • church needs to be in the business of scheduling battles, and then training young people for the battles
  • there is no sense of urgency, risk and purpose in young people, so the teaching is not effective

I’m absolutely sure you will love these podcasts. Give them a listen! I’m pretty sure that he will put me in jail if you don’t listen to them. So, um… please do!

News

Planned Parenthood stung three more times by Live Action

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Unborn baby scheming about exposing Planned Parenthood
Unborn baby scheming about exposing Planned Parenthood

From Live Action’s web page. (H/T Lex Communis)

The videos:

Excerpt:

The footage shows a man who identifies himself as a pimp working with underage girls. He seeks assistance for getting abortions, STD testing and birth control for girls he “manages” as sex workers, who are from out of the country and as young as 14 to 15 years old. The investigation continues to unearth alarming evidence that Planned Parenthood, which receives more than $350 million from the American taxpayer every year, is willing to facilitate the sexual exploitation of minors and young women.

“Today, we are sending Attorney General Cuccinelli and Virginia law enforcement officials new, disturbing footage from three Virginia clinics. The footage explicitly shows Planned Parenthood staff willing to engage in activity that sexually exploits minors and young women. The evidence continues to mount, and shows a clear pattern where Planned Parenthood is willing aid and abet the sex-trafficking industry. These are abhorrent practices and it is time Planned Parenthood be held accountable,” Rose said.

Findings in these Virginia videos:

• Falls Church – Abortions for underage girls from other countries only require a photo ID.

Planned Parenthood staffer: “We don’t necessarily look at the legal status, like I said. Abortion appointments do require photo ID. It’s nothing as far as records. It’s just photo ID that’s ever going to be required.”

• Roanoke – Birth control and STD testing for underage prostitutes is no problem

Planned Parenthood staffer: “From the age of 12 up, for birth control, you can just come in and do that. You don’t have to have a parent, OK?”

Planned Parenthood staffer discussing STD testing: “And the thing is, see this is the thing a lot of people don’t know that. . .Right, through the Health Department.  And so, they’ll uh, they’ll track it. And they’re discreet.  They’re confidential.  They, you know, don’t tell people what’s going on, because – frankly – it’s nobody’s business.”

• Charlottesville – Birth control and testing for STDs and pregnancy for underage girls with no questions asked.

Planned Parenthood staffer: “Anybody here can help you. Everything here is confidential. We can’t give any information out.”

Notice the concern about taxpayer-funding. I love it when social conservatives understand that they are paying for the evils they condemn. That should be the first step – to de-fund the immoral practices. Eil is harder to do when you have to pay for it yourself. It makes people make better decisions when they know that they have to face the consequences of their own actions. The worst thing in the world is for the government to pay for abortions – that takes away all the moral and financial sting. Which is exactly why the Republicans want to ban all taxpayer-funding of abortion and why Obama passed Obamacare to fund abortions.

One other nice thing is that Cuccinelli, the attorney general, is the same who has been investigating the University of Virginia for global warming fraud.