Religious Liberty and Religious Persecution

That’s the headline for this blog and these are one in the same. A denial of religious liberty is religious persecution.

There are two separate incidences currently occurring in the U.S. that fall under the above headline.

One is the plight of the Romeike family who came to the U.S. to flee religious persecution in Germany. The Romeike’s are a devout Christian family. Their “crime” is that they want to homeschool their children. In Germany homeschooling is illegal. (Geez, you would have thought that the Germans would have learned a little about the issue of national control from the history of 70-80 years ago.) The problem is that the Obama administration is siding with the German government. I would say “Can you believe it?” but that would be a most rhetorical question. Here’s some more info on this story: https://bay165.mail.live.com/default.aspx?id=64855#n=1268852563&fid=1&mid=58c213e9-a15e-11e2-9220-00237de49d24&fv=1

The other is the provision under ObamaCare that forces businesses to underwrite both contraceptive and abortion-causing pills in their health care coverage. Religious organizations, regardless of their belief system, must provide health care insurance plans that cover drugs defined by the Food and Drug Administration as contraceptives, even if they can cause chemical abortions. You can read the complete article here: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=40042.

Christians need to pay close attention to these situations. Adverse decisions will erode a giant chunk of the religious liberty base that we have in this country. Total religious persecution will not be far behind.

Book Review: Crucifying Morality

The beatitudes have been worked over, dissected, evaluated and interpreted from every human and denominational angle possible. There are metaphysical and allegorical viewpoints that would make you think you have fallen into a philosophical time warp. Yet very few seem to hit the “where the rubber meets the road” interpretation.  Along comes R.W. Glenn with a fresh look at how the beatitudes are applicable for 21^st century Christians. (And we can define Christians as anyone who reads the Bible with the intent of improving his life)

R W Glenn is the Pastor of Preaching & Vision at Redeemer Bible Church in Minnetonka, MN.  He is in the group of hip, young preachers that seem to gravitate toward mega churches. That is not meant derogatorily but rather as what-to-expect information. These are the guys that can enlighten the young generation.

Glenn’s newest work, Crucifying Morality, is a fresh, insightful consideration of the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5.1-12. Crucifying Morality is a walk through the beatitudes in modern language.  It is fresh and highly applicable for the Believer’s everyday life. It is written in a verse-by-verse format making it easy to follow.

Glenn’s overarching interpretive principle is that the beatitudes are not commands, but rather Christian principle, sort of a code of conduct for the believer.

If one is ever intending to preach or teach on the beatitudes, this will serve as an excellent resource. Glenn provides thoughtful insight as well as some applicable illustrations.

As a study, growth and application aid, there are questions upon which the reader can reflect at the end of each chapter

There is no reason to prolong the evaluation of this book. For Christians and non-Christians who have ever wondered what in the world Jesus was talking about as he began the sermon on the mount, get this, read it, digest it and apply it. Your life will be better for the effort.

Note:I was provided this book by Cross Focus Reviews in exchange for my honest review.

Bethlehem - Traditional?

Here’s an incident which occurred on Christmas Day that I think demonstrates the clever and crafty way that the media promotes secular humanism and at the same time denigrates Christianity.

CBS News, during their morning fluff programming, ran a piece on tourism in Bethlehem (no, not PA). The female commentator/host, when attempting to describe the significance of Bethlehem, referred to it as the “traditional birthplace of Jesus.”

Well, sweetheart (and CBS), I’ve got bad news for you. There’s nothing “traditional” about it. It’s a fact – a historically accurate fact. How do I know this? Well, there are two reasons not necessarily in proper order:

First, I took a highly scientific poll on Facebook and each person that responded correctly identified the birthplace of Jesus and …

Second, each knew exactly how they knew the correct answer.

And the number one answer is …

The Bible!

Uh-oh, does this mean that CBS and its cute little spokeswoman were trying to influence the thinking of the American people? Of course, it does.

The moral of the story: Be wary of what you listen to.

Book Review: Ruth, From Bitter To Sweet

I think it could be accurately stated that the book of Ruth is often overlooked by many Christians. There’s just too much other exciting “stuff” in the Bible – Revelation, Genesis, and Acts for example. It is short (just a mere four chapters); it is hard to find amidst sixty-five other books (right between Judges and 1 Samuel); and it follows one of the more ominous statements in the Bible, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (ESV)

I think it could also be accurately stated that the book of Ruth is a pivotal point in the story of salvation and, with a little prayer a spiritual digging, provides us with a wealth of practical knowledge. To help us with the spiritual excavation is Ruth: From Bitter to Sweet by Dr. John Currid.

Dr. Currid is the Carl W. McMurray Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC. He is the author of nine other commentaries. Yet, despite being of the scholarly bent, he has provided us with a highly worthwhile commentary on the book of Ruth that is focused on providing Christians with a practical view of this inspiring story. Dr. Currid actually encourages us to take a deeper look at the person of Ruth.

The structure of the book is simple: It is a verse-by-verse commentary. However, it is not technical. Yes, there are a few Hebrew language points included in the commentary, but they are not meant to impress. They provide us with valuable insight for a complete understanding of the text.

With an eye toward practical application, Dr. Currid includes a section entitled “Points to Ponder” at the end of each chapter. This is where he encourages us to think a bit about what we have just studied and provide some relevance to our lives.

Ruth: From Bitter to Sweet will be excellent for personal study, but I think its greatest use will be for Sunday School classes where this wonderful bok can be introduced to all Christians.

Book Review: Rebels Rescued

Let’s face it; theology is a controversial subject even just within Protestant circles. Of course, with the controversy comes a bit of verbal sparring. And if one is going to “mix it up” a bit with the opposition, it is useful to know what the point of view of the opposition will be.

Enter Rebels Rescued to provide information from the reformed side of theology. The book is written by Brian Cosby, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) who serves as Pastor of Wayside Presbyterian Church on Signal Mountain, TN. He has several earned degrees from reformed theological seminaries.

Cosby has provided us with a neat and concise summary of reformed theology. Have no fear; this is not a thick theological textbook. It’s slim with big print and covers only 103 pages. It’s a perfect basic primer for Reformed theology. There is little detail here and that was not Cosby’s intention.

Yet, despite its diminutive size, it does contain all the major points of what reformed theologians preach and teach. In fact at the very beginning of the book, Cosby summarizes reformed theology for us in ten expressions: The first five are what is often called the “Five Solas…” The second five are organized by the acrostic TULIP, or what has been called the “Five Points of Calvinism.” Immediately you know where you’re going in this book. He then takes these ten points and provides further theological detail in the remaining eight chapters. In a short time you'll get a grasp of what Reformed Theology is all about.

Whether or not you are in sympathy with reformed theology, Rebels Rescued is an excellent simple and fast read to peel back a layer of reformed theology.

Get the book, read it and keep it on your shelf for ready reference.

Book Review: The Church in an Age of Crisis

The Church in an Age of Crisis: 25 New Realities Facing Christianity

I happened to finish this book on the night of the national election. Perhaps that is a bit of coincidence; perhaps a bit of irony. Nevertheless, this book seems to hit right at the bottom line of the direction the country is going. In a nutshell the premise of Dr. James Emery White’s latest volume can be captured in the well-known phrase, “The times, they are achangin’.”

Dr. White is the founder of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC. “Meck,” as it is fondly known, is considered to be one of the fastest-growing church starts in the United States. Dr. White is the author of several other books – Rethinking the Church and What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary. He is also the author of the popular conservative blog Church & Culture.

In this volume Dr. White confronts virtually every cultural and social stigma that plagues the cause of Christ in a culture that is rapidly losing its moral values. There may be a lone cockroach somewhere in a dark corner that he fails to squash, but that may be only because it has failed to raise its ugly head.

The book is efficiently organized into five categories – Faith, Mindset, Marriage and Family, Media and Technology, and Mission – with five subcategories pertaining to each. Each of these subcategories has an interest-catching title that makes you want to discover what lies within. The volume is obviously highly researched and well thought through. I have always enjoyed Dr. White’s writing style. It is fast-paced and accordingly a quick and lively read.

But this is not a book that one would want to “skim” through. Each chapter must be read, digested and reflected upon. Dr. White hits hard in the very first chapter, “A Post-Christian America.” Even the title gets your attention. In it he documents the rise of secularism and how it affects our moral values.

In the section on Mindset, Dr. White has a chapter entitled “The New American Dream.” He seems to sum it up in one sentence, “Opportunity is very different than entitlement.” Be sure to read that chapter for the details.

Also under Mindset is a chapter entitled “Forgetting How to Blush.” It deals with truth – the truth. He sums it up with one powerful statement, “What lies at the heart of a culture that no longer knows how to blush is a culture that no longer knows the truth,” and then leads us to Romans 1.24-25.

In Media and Technology there is a chapter “Is Google God?” Dr. White argues that true wisdom has faded to a few million page hits on Google. “…wisdom can’t be googled.” If you think technology is the answer, you’ll want to stop to meditate here.

The final five chapters under the heading of Mission are not only a must read for all believers, but also a definitive challenge. It is a challenge to all Christians to defend the faith and spread the faith – before it is too late.

This is a book that should be in the top of every reading list for every believer. It has been described as a “wake-up call,” but I believe it is more than that. It is a stern and dire warning, not just to believers, but to all Americans who care about their country.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book for review and the thoughts and opinions of this review are entirely my own.

Character and the VP Debate

Those of us here at the busy offices of Eye On Christianity have a policy: Since this is a blog about Christianity (religion), we do not mix religion and politics unless, well, unless the politician mixes religion and politics. Then, all is fair. So when Martha “Dearest” raised the question of abortion last night in the VP Debate, religion and politics became a fair mix.

The answers by both men revealed a lot about their character. You can say what you want about their policies, foreign or domestic, it doesn’t really matter. There will always be differences. A Donkey and an Elephant will never see eye-to-eye. What matters is how they approach the job and that is revealed by their character.

Now bear in mind that both men are Catholic and both profess to be “practicing” Catholics – whatever that is. In fact, VP Biden made sure everyone knew that. “I’m a practicing Catholic,” was his statement

Ryan went first when the question of abortion came up. He said his faith influences his beliefs and actions. He went into a short discussion of how he believed life begins at conception and then a heart-warming story about his first child. In short, what we saw here was a man who lives his faith. What he believes about God and the Bible is transferred into all facets of his life.

VP Biden went next and echoed Ryan’s statement about life beginning at conception. That’s his belief too. If he had stopped there, there would be no further discussion. Now he had to justify his support of abortion. The qualifier came next. The VP doesn’t want to impose his views on anyone else. What does that mean? It’s simple: I have my views, but I’m not going to live them out in public. In other words my faith does not influence my actions.

What this attitude does is relegate faith to being a convenient prop in the journey of life. It says, if this aspect of my faith is convenient for me in my life, then I’ll adopt it. If it looks like it might cost me something, I’ll dump it.

That, my friends, is moral relativism – see Judges 21.25.