Rick and Bubba Cut Ties With World Vision

Rick and Bubba are comedians, authors, and nationally syndicated radio personalities who are openly and outspokenly Christian.  They have been ardent supporters of World Vision, an international Christian charity which fights child poverty by sponsoring needy children.  They have abruptly cut ties with World Vision after their personal friend, the organization’s president Richard Stearns, told Christianity Today that World Vision is changing their employment policies.  They previously required employees to remain faithful within marriage, abstinent outside of marriage, and only recognized heterosexual marriages.  The new personnel policy does not overtly endorse same sex marriage but includes legal same sex marriages.

Readers of this blog understand that the blog is written from an orthodox Trinitarian Christian understanding based on a very high view of scripture.  The biblical standard for marriage is one man married to one woman.  It is clear that the Bible does not in any way condone the practice of homosexuality. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

What Rick and Bubba have done is not “hate speech” or “homophobia.”  Christians should not hate (1 John 3:15) and we do not have a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7).  The historical orthodox position is admittedly absolutist.  The biblical claim is that God is the Absolute Truth and that He is the only arbiter of that truth.

Moral relativism, of which I have spoken before, is a very recent development which challenges the idea of Absolute Truth.  Advocates of moral relativism see traditional understandings of numerous issues to be repressive and oppressive.  They see Truth, if it exists at all, as being determined by the individual or by a community of agreeing individuals.

Several Christian denominations have been influenced by the philosophy of moral relativism and have adopted reinterpretations of historic doctrines in an effort to become more “relevant” to the modern world.  Some include openly homosexual members and a few have no problem with sexual relationships (heterosexual and homosexual) outside of marriage if the sexuality is in the concept of a “committed relationship.”

I personally know several homosexual Christians who are aware of my stand on this matter.  We do not hate or fear one another (“homophobia” is an insult word); we look at one another and are puzzled.  I am sure that this divide exists among readers of this blog as well.

Opponents of the traditional orthodox view on this matter must understand that our opposition to their view is not motivated by hate or fear.  They must also understand that we will not compromise.

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* Luke 14:26 refers to loving no one more than Jesus.  The verse reflects an Aramaic understanding of love and hate.

The Worldview Shift in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

“What happened in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was that what for many had been the minimal theology of the Old World became the maximal of the New. … They found it in the world of Nature.”  John  V. Fleming (a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, university professor at Princeton University, and medievalist).

The “minimal theology of the Old World/maximal theology of the New World” is that the obvious order, mathematical nature,  and logic of the natural world all strongly imply the existence of an intelligence, a Creator.  Everything works as it must for us to exist at all.  If anything at all; gravitation, body pH, the amount of radiation in the atmosphere, the attractive and repellant forces between subatomic particles, etc.,  is  varied by even minute amounts, we will all die.  The extreme order and complexity of the physical world led to what is called the Argument from Design.  Design implies a Designer.

The shift  in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries denied the importance and sometimes even the existence of the Designer.  At best this is Deism (God exists but that is all that can be said), at worst, it is Atheism (God does not exist).

This shift in worldview led ultimately to the philosophy known as scientific materialism or naturalism.  This is the idea that the only things which can be known are those things which can be empirically measured.  A few steps more led to overt militant atheism.  A few steps more led to the idea that nothing can be known absolutely; that there is no Absolute Truth of any sort.  From this, people feel that they can, with a straight face, declare , “That is your truth, my truth may be different.”  Essentially, they are saying that there can be no universal standards of any sort, no declaration that anything is always wrong or right, and, ultimately, that “there can be no criticism of ME.”  This is the ultimate meaning of sin, the elevation of self above everything and everyone else.  Man making himself into God.

This is the Bible’s response to Deism and Atheism: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” Romans 1:20

Film Comment: This Is the End

Collect up at least one hundred film actors, singers, and entertainers at a wild drug and alcohol fueled party, then start the end of the world, complete with giant monsters and demons. The Earth cracks open and people fall into a burning Hell. Have the actors portray themselves, thrown into this situation.

This Is the End (2013) has a cast filled with big name celebrities: Jamez franco, Seth Rogan, Jay Baruchel, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Dany McBride, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Mindy Kaling, David Krumholtz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Rihanna, Paul Rudd, The Backstreet Boys, and many others.

When the trouble starts everyone runs outside as the world begins to burn and explode around them.  Too dumb, selfish, cowardly, drug-addled, gluttonous, etc. to “escape” some do not even notice the disturbance.  But they soon will. The six main protagonists run back into the “safety” of the house.

The guys tell themselves they will survive because they are “good people,” but they realize that they are not.  The film does not show any of these people in a good light.  They all realize that they are damned.

The film, a comedy with some undeniably hilarious moments, features violence, gore, impalement, decapitation, penis jokes, nudity, profanity, cannibalism,  homosexuality, demons, intentional blasphemy, obscenities, betrayal, alcohol and drug abuse, self-righteousness, taking God’s name in vain, urination, vomit, obscene gestures, discussion of intent to rape in the presence of the intended victim, masturbation, demonic possession, prayer for the death of another person, sexual slavery, cowardice, self preservation at the expense of other’s lives.  Did I forget anything?

The supposedly ”happy” messages of the film are:

1.     Self-sacrifice confers instant entry into Heaven.

2.     In Heaven, we become angels.

3.     In Heaven, you can have anything you want, even a dooble.

4.     There is no need to be a “Christian” to enter into Heaven.

5.     Heaven is just another wild party.

6.     The Rapture looks like an alien abduction with a beam of light pulling the person up into the sky.

This highly offensive film intends to offend in every way imaginable, showing a contempt or disregard for any conventional understanding of propriety or morality.  It made me wonder.  The actors, portraying themselves, know that they are damned.

In the film, they are facing evidence which, at the very least, proves that God and the supernatural are real.

These are extremely talented, supposedly very intelligent comedians who have gone out of their way to intentionally offend nearly everything related to Christianity and the End Times.  Should not this film prod these actors into actually thinking about their real-life situations?

To some, or most of the actors, I am sure that this was all just a big joke.  Perhaps they are like many people and do not believe anything at all.  Post-modern moral and intellectual relativism at its logical conclusion.

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This is an end of the world film where the Earth is not merely damaged, but is actually destroyed.  Two other prominent films of this type are When Worlds Collide (1951), which depicts the chaos which erupts when a planet the size of Earth is on a collision course with our planet.  The other is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), a surprisingly tender and bittersweet love story.  Either of these two films would be an infinitely better use of your two hours than This Is the End.

"Labels" vs "Search This Blog"

To search for specific subjects on this blog, you will find the Labels listing to be much more useful than the Search This Blog Gadget.  The labels are listed at the end of the page.  Messianic prophecies shows 16 posts, light bulb jokes, 38, and moral relativism, 8.

Recent Comments by Pope Francis

For full disclosure: this blog is written from a Protestant, Trinitarian, Evangelical, and biblically orthodox position.

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 Pope Francis has roiled the waters within the Catholic Church with statements which some consider to be at odds with the emphases of his two immediate predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Francis has said that the church has become too focused on homosexuality, abortion, and issues of religious faith and doubt.  What I hope that Francis is trying to say is that the church cannot and should not be defined by what it is against.  That is a sure way for the church to wither and die.

Marisol Bello and Eric J. Lyman in a USA Today article on the issue say that Francis is reminding the world of the “Catholic Church as a place of healing and mercy, not judgment and finger-pointing.”  Others are concerned that Francis is de-emphasizing adherence to traditional doctrine in favor of being “relevant.”

In the interview, Francis adds: “we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time."  Francis is not changing Catholic Church doctrine but appears to be trying to say that the church cannot be only “against,” it must also be “for.”

Read more about the controversy here:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/19/pope-francis-abortion-gays-interview/2837495/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/09/19/pope-francis-gays-abortion-contraception-column/2839493/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57603897/pope-francis-denounces-abortion-after-decrying-churchs-focus-on-rules/

(Pope Francis, in talking about these issues, is not speaking ex cathedra (“from the chair”). but as a spiritual leader.  Ex cathedra statements are considered by the Roman Catholic Church to be directly from God and are doctrinally binding on all Catholics. 

Rise Above Hate

Today I saw a young man wearing a T-shirt bearing the logo “Rise Above Hate,” a truly laudable sentiment. As with many things, though, in this modern world, there is more to the story, hidden below the surface.  The phrase, “Rise Above Hate”  has become a code phrase for the moral relativist movement.  This philosophy, which leads to the world view called postmodernism, has become the prevailing sentiment of the modern world's culture.  Pope Benedict clearly understands; he has called it the "dictatorship of relativism." 

Postmodernism is the newest and the most rapidly growing of the modern world views challenging the Christian ἐκκλησία, and potentially the most dangerous.  It has permeated modern Western culture, even making its way into the thinking of many professing Christians.  Postmodernism rejects human reason and logic as a source of truth because it declares that there is no absolute truth.  Since there is no absolute truth, ethics are relative, all religions are equally true, and personal experience is more important than any external authority.  There is no ultimate basis for proven knowledge of any kind.  Modern  Western culture is seen as repressive to the individual.  There is a deep anti-intellectual distrust of reason and logic; truth is subjective, pluralistic, and collectivist, and is not reachable by reason.  One of the favorite phrases of the postmodernists is "Your truth may not be my truth."

Two films on which I have commented clearly express this world view: Crash Test and Rubber .

Secular Christians

"I am grieved by nit-picking, small-minded Christians, and deeply troubled about shallow Christians who think everything is black and white, who have simple answers for life's most difficult questions.  But I'm outraged by "secular" Christians who have been fully immersed in the moral relativism of a post-Christian world." Gary Kinnaman

Book Comment: God is Not ... Religious, Nice, "One of Us," An American, A Capitalist

God is Not ... Religious, Nice, "One of Us," An American, A Capitalist, edited by D. Brent Laythem, is a very hard book to read, for several reasons. One is that it is written from a very academic seminary level veiwpoint. The other reason is that it directly challenges numerous modern Christian assumptions.


This is not some "pointy-headed liberal" attack on the Church. The authors take pains to point out that they are evangelical and trinitarian and that they do not subscribe to the moral relativism now infesting most of the world. The editor, Brent Laythem, says "... true boorishness is the 'unflinching tolerance' that cannot tolerate traditional Christian conviction."


You may disagree with some of the conclusions the writers draw in their articles. I do, but it is not forbidden for Christians to disagree among themselves. We are not even required to all like one another, but we are expected to all love one another and to love and obey the Lord.


Some of the insights discussed in this book are:
God is not religious. Religion can become a work of Man, with rules, rituals, and places which, in effect, distract our attention away from God.
God is not "one of us." Jesus is not just a holy man and an enlightened teacher. He is fully Human, but He is also fully Divine.
God is not nice. God is dangerous. He is a direct challenge to man's pride in his accomplishments. To call God nice is an attempt to tame and control Him.
God is not tolerant. Modern moral relativism insists that there are no absolutes. God presents Himself with no compromise.
God is not interested in being your therapist, in making you "feel better." God is not a coping mechanism. He seeks to restore you to a proper relationship with Himself.
God is not American. The angels rejoice when a new person enters the Kingdom whether that person is in Papua New Guinea, Egypt, Spain, or Florida.
God is not a capitalist. In his "render unto caesar" comment Jesus seems to say that He considered money to be unimportant. Remember that he laid aside his privileges as God to become what the world's culture would consider to be an absolute failure, executed by the government as a criminal.

Relativism vs Acts 4:12

"The theory of the limited, incomplete, or imperfect character of the revelation of Jesus Christ, which would be complementary to that found in other religions, is contrary to the Church's faith." Article 6, Dominus Iesus (2000) issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Roman Catholic Church.


The "other religions" would include those "mainstream" denominations which assert that Christianity is merely one religion among many.  The exclusive nature of the Christian claim is part of the "offense of the gospel."


"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."  Acts 4:12

Several Random Indications That we Live in a Morally and Ethically Bankrupt World

1. A woman being offended that I dared to open a door for her.
2. A policeman turning on his blue lights and siren so he can pass through a red traffic light, then turning them off and resuming normal speed.
3. Able bodied persons taking handicapped parking spaces, using their handicapped aunt's parking sticker; some even using counterfeit stickers and placards.
4. Millions of persons download music illegally from the internet, and the business in pirated movie DVD's is a billion dollar affair.
5. Americans and Europeans consume billions of dollars worth of illegal drugs annually, ignoring the fact that the drug trade is built on smuggling, murder, theft, bribery, the use of children as "mules," and the fact that a large portion of the financing for international terrorism comes from the illegal drug trade.
6. Thinking that the hip-hop/rap music culture (based on the glorification of violence and mysogyny) is somehow "authentically  black."
7. 95% of US high school students admit to having cheated on their school work at least once.
8. As many as 22% of married men, and 14% of married women, have had at least one extramarital affair even though up to 90% of Americans say that marital infidelity is wrong.
9. Sexual abuse of children by schoolteachers, pastors, and priests is increasingly reported worldwide.
10. Abortions in the United States: 193,491 i 1970; 1,429,279 in 1990; 820,151 in 2005.

The list could go on and on.

Film Comment: Crash Test

The viewer comments on this film on both The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) and on Netflix (www.netflic.com) were in total agreement. Everybody hated it. Most thought it was one of the worst, most boring films they ever saw. They attacked it's talkiness, it's almost total lack of action, the ultra-cheap low-bugetness, the less than stellar acting, the minimal plot, the fact that the car crashes didn't involve any cars crashing, and on and on and on. I actually liked this film and I think the others totally missed what it was about. They would probably agree.

The best description of Crash Test (2003) is that it is an Australian minimalist science fiction/horror/political film, with a strong stress on the political. The bare bones plot is this: a man is kidnapped by the Motorkore Corporation and surgically altered into a human crash test dummy named 171096. When he awakens, his training begins. The training consists of being encouraged to run full speed into a brick wall on command. At first, the wall is padded with a mattress, then a quilt, then a thin piece of styrofoam, and finally the naked bricks are exposed. Run into the wall, it is your friend.

What has happened to you is good. You are part of a team and we can do great things together. To be a successful crash test dummy you must give us total and absolute obedience. Run into the wall, it is your friend. The system never fails.

Many people, myself included, think that western culture is heading into the direction of an enforced uniformity based on totalitarian and even fascist impulses by "those who know what is best for us," what Pope Benedict XVI calls the "dictatorship of relativism." Carried to the most extreme ends of its logic, the belief that there are no moral absolutes can declare that those who insist on absolutes (Christians, for example) are outsiders, even criminals, guilty of Hate Speech, intolerance, of not fitting in. There is a real danger of persecution of those who fail to "get with the agenda."

A Kid's Ear

     My doctor told me today that I had a "kid's ear," one of the worst cases of an ear infection that he had seen in years.  I know now why infants and young children fuss, fidgit, and cry when their ears hurt.  It is a true case of "walk a mile in my shoes."

     Non-believers and some more liberally minded believers use this idea to declare that Christians have no right to criticize, or even question, the actions and beliefs of others.  We must take into account their life experiences, their religious heritage, their nationality, their race,  ... whatever.  The effect is paralyzing moral relativism, the inability to admit that right is right and wrong is wrong.  It all depends on the situation.

     Of course, Christians should understand the influences which have shaped a person and their beliefs and actions, but the influences to which a person has been exposed are no excuse for bad actions.  Each person, and no one else, is responsible for their own choices and actions.  A truly great man, George Washington Carver (1864-1943), who was born as a slave and sold as an infant for a horse. became a scientist, inventor, and educator rather than a bitter twisted man. 

     Christians are called to be compassionate and caring, not judgmental, and to perform good works.  We are also not to dilute the gospel in any way, not to change the gospel in any way, not to compromise to win the favor of other people, and not to be afraid to speak the truth.