I trust the World Health Organization . . . 

About as far as I can throw them!  

Or, almost as much as I trust the CDC and Dr. Fauci.  

But, some of my few faithful readers may recall many months ago that I wondered why seemingly nobody was saying anything about “vaccine equity.”  Rich nations have clearly been hoarding the COVID vaccines.  The Biden Administration thinks it good policy to foist tyrannical mandates upon US citizens (which for a large block of us only stiffens our resolve to stand against such unconstitutional power-grabbing non-sense), to shove booster shots down our throats, to threaten our holiday gatherings, to force thousands of good soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines out of the military (China and Russia are licking their chops), to cause the biggest labor shortage crisis in my lifetime, including the exodus of thousands of nurses from our medical system, to close schools, and so on ad nauseum.  

And for what?  

A vaccination fascination.  Dare I say vaccine idolatry?  

No emphasis from our national leadership on the role of natural immunities, or burgeoning and amazingly effective therapeutics, or good old common sense.  No admission that no long-term data exists on this vaccine.  

Turns out the brazen campaign promise of then Presidential Candidate Joe Biden to “kill the virus” was ever-bit as prideful as former President Trump’s often ill-advised tweets.  We traded one form of pride for another, and were encouraged to do so by far too many feckless evangelical leaders.  As far as I can tell from my Bible, God hates pride. Period. Regardless of the form it takes.  And, God despises greed.    

So, imagine my delightful surprise to recently stumble upon an article detailing how leaders in the WHO are now chastising wealthy nations for trying to boost their way out of a pandemic, whilst the poorer nations and peoples languish under the full weight of COVID-19’s wrath.  

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/22/who-says-covid-vaccine-booster-programs-will-prolong-pandemic.html 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently argued at a news conference that wealthy nations hoarding vaccines and pushing booster programs, instead of distributing their stockpiles to poorer nations, are only ensuring that the virus continues to spread and mutate in poorer countries. He went on to say, “No country can boost its way out of the pandemic.”  

Wow. Rarely do I ever find myself in agreement with WHO.  But given the worldwide pandemic of wokeness and Critical Theory driven by neo-Marxism, it is very shocking that it has taken so long for someone to say these kinds of things.  I mean, a Marxist Utopian world demands equality of outcome, even if it means forcefully “redistributing” material resources and finances.  Why this philosophy has not been applied to the vaccine until nearly two years into the pandemic, is befuddling, to say the least. 

Of course, I do not personally support the forceful government redistribution of wealth.  That brand of socialism I believe the Bible labels stealing.  And no, it is not OK for the state to steal.  Just ask King Ahab how God thinks on this matter (1 Kings 21).  

And this brand of socialism is precisely what is driving our nation now during this ongoing virus circus.  This kind of thinking, that the state has the right to hoard, steal, redistribute, accountable to no one, exacerbates the greed already resident in depraved human hearts.  Contrary to what Critical Theory Marxists claim, Free Market Capitalism produces and induces more generosity, far more, than any socialistic economy ever has.  For 100+ years, the citizens and corporations and churches of the United States have given more to alleviate hardship and suffering around the world than the rest of the developed and western nations combined.  You see, it might be in vogue to hate the American systems (and surely our nation is far from sinless in so many ways), but the systems handed down to us in our Constitutions (Federal and State) have given us this privilege to be a blessing to the world.  

Only prosperous nations have any potential to actually bless the rest of the world in any significant ways.  Where are the legions of missionaries and aid and relief organizations from Albania?  Or Nicaragua?  When has Burma or Nigeria ever flown its doctors all over the world to offer free care to the rest of the world?  What “Feed the World” campaign has been organized by Iran?    

So, I ask you, why are Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, not donating millions upon millions of vaccines to the poorer peoples and nations of the world?  As Americans get their 4th or 5th booster shots, COVID ravishes whole villages around the world.  Where has corporate generosity gone?  And why are Americans not demanding this kind of generosity from our government and businesses?  What is happening to us?  Why are we growing more greedy?  For all our barking and protesting and rioting about “systemic injustice,” especially against “oppressed peoples of color,” why are we so happy to hoard this vaccine?  Do we really care about oppressed peoples?  To my knowledge nobody is being denied this vaccine or medical treatments for COVID in the US because of skin color, ethnicity, religion, so-called gender identity, sexual identity, etc.  We are ALL very privileged, seems to me, as Americans.  

The erosion of the foundations of our nation, what we have typically called the “Judeo-Christian ethic,” and the inroads of atheistic Marxism into every conceivable area of government, business, law and education, and the growth of irreligiosity, atheism and agnosticism, are taking a toll.  On us. And on the world.

The Marxist Utopia being promised to us by the Left (politically) and by the Progressives (in Christendom), is leaking like a sieve.  Indeed, it won’t hold water.  But it will hoard water.  

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God . . . Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:1-4, 12-13).

Session Notes

The Existence of God

Apologetics – Session 2

 

**As with other Lectures, this material is heavily influenced by Lectures by Dr. Timothy Paul Jones and Dr. Kyle Claunch at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary**

 

Philosophical Arguments

• Ontological Argument
  • Logic-based Argument rather than Observation-based argument.
  • Anselm of Canterbury 7^th Century AD
  • Anselm’s argument (Ontological Argument)
    • God is “a being than which no greater can be conceived.”
    • Existing is greater than not existing, therefore the greatest possible being would have existence as a necessary attribute otherwise a greater being who actually exists is possible.
    • This greatest possible being is God and for Him to truly be God (aka the greatest) He must exist.
    • This supreme “greatest” being must also be good because to be good is better than to be bad. Thus, the greatest being must also be the most good being possible.
  • Cosmological Argument
    • Observation-based argument, typically more effective.
    • Cosmos = world.
      • Observation of the world and the way the universe works.
    • Uses the concept of “causality” to establish God’s existence.
      • Everything in the cosmos depends on a being that must exist necessarily (cannot not exist) because of causality.
      • Unmovable mover theory (Aristotle)
        • How might we move to sharing the gospel if we are using this method with someone?
      • Teleological Argument
        • Observation-based argument
        • The argument is that the appearance of design and purpose in the universe implies a designer.
      • What are some evidences of design in the universe? (4 categories)
      • Fine tuning of the universe
        • Everything must be “just perfect” for there to be life. The slightest variation of a universal constant would mean extinction.
        • Examples
          • If gravity had been stronger or weaker by one part in 10^40, then life sustaining stars like the sun could not exist. This would make life impossible (Robin Collins).
          • As the Earth moves in its orbit around the Sun, it departs from a straight line by only one-ninth of an inch every eighteen miles. If it departed by one-eighth of an inch, we would come so close to the Sun that we would be incinerated; if it departed by one-tenth of an inch, we would find ourselves so far from the Sun that we would all freeze to death (see Science Digest, 1981)
          • If the Moon were moved closer to the Earth by just a fifth, the tides would be so enormous that twice a day they would reach 35-50 feet high over most of the surface of the Earth.
        • “The probabilities involved with the fine-tuning of the universe aren’t comparable to winning the lottery or being struck by lightning. Lottery odds are represented using eight or nine digits, e.g., 1:10⁹. Randomly dealing a deck of 52 playing cards in perfect order presents odds of 1:10⁶⁸. Physicists express the odds of “randomly” arranging universal physical constants in the present arrangement using numbers more like 1:10¹²⁰.” https://www.gotquestions.org/fine-tuning-argument.html
        • It is far more probable that there is a designer, and this designer is God.
      • Intelligent Design Theory
        1. Creation is ridiculously complex and intricate.
        2. An intelligent cause is necessary to explain the complex structures of biology.
           1. Ex) Human eye
        3. It is impossible for such complexity to occur due to random processes
           1. For example, a room filled with 100 monkeys and 100 computers may eventually produce a few words, or maybe even a sentence, but it would never produce a Shakespearean play. And how much more complex is biological life than a Shakespearean play? https://www.gotquestions.org/intelligent-design.html
           2. This improbability of random chance suggests that it is more logical that there is a God who designed than it is to believe that what we see in all its complexity came about by chance. The odds are simply too great.

• Irreducible Complexity
  1. There are systems that are so complex that to reduce one of the system’s parts would negate the function of the entire system.
  2. There is codependence between the various parts of a system and to remove one is to render the system unable to serve the function it was created for.
     1. Ex) Mousetrap
     2. Ex) E Coli flagellum system
  3. The reality that there are so many irreducibly complex systems necessitates the existence of a designer because such systems could not evolve (we can talk more on this when we get to Evolution Topic)

• Argument from Beauty
  1. In a utilitarian or Darwinian Evolutionary view of the world, beauty is unnecessary.
  2. Beauty is not needed in an evolutionary worldview (naturalistic worldview). Such a worldview only necessitates reproduction, aka. the survival of the species.
  3. Beauty is an element of design that strongly suggests a designer. That designer is God. There are reasons we find a sunrise or sunset beautiful. As we will discuss in just a moment “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps 19:1)

 

Can you actually convince someone that there is a God? Is reason enough?

• This is a good question. Philosophical arguments for God’s Existence are logical and convincing.
• I believe that these Philosophical arguments work together with General Revelation and can convince someone of theism, but cannot help them understand who God is and how someone can be made right with Him sufficiently to be saved. That requires Special Revelation.

On page 204 of my copy of The Valley of Vision, this Puritan Prayer is recorded, titled “Year’s End.”

Thou art good when thou givest, when thou takest away, when the sun shines upon me, when night gathers over me.

Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world, and in love didst redeem my soul; Thou dost love me still, in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.

Thy goodness has been with me during another year, leading me through a twisting wilderness, in retreat helping me to advance, when beaten back making sure headway.

Thy goodness will be with me in the year ahead; I hoist sail and draw up anchor, With thee as the blessed Pilot of my future as of my past.

I bless thee that thou hast veiled my eyes to the waters ahead.

If thou hast appointed storms of tribulation, thou will be with me in them; If I have to pass through tempests of persecution and temptation, I shall not drown; If I am to die, I shall see thy face the sooner; If a painful end is to be my lot, grant me grace that my faith fail not; If I am to be cast aside from the service I love, I can make no stipulation; Only glorify thyself in me whether in comfort or trial, as a chosen vessel meet always for thy use.

And all of God’s people in Christ said, “Amen.” 

 

Session Notes

Introductory Matters

Apologetics – Session 1 – 12/1/21

 

**Much of what I will be using comes from a series of Apologetics lectures given by Dr. Timothy Paul Jones in Spring 2019 at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Additionally, I utilized material in the book “Apologetics at the Cross” by Joshua Chatraw and Mark Allen for this teaching.**

 

What is Apologetics?

• Apologetics isn’t:
  • Learning how to destroy people’s ideas so you can win an argument.
  • Learning a bunch of knowledge so you can do nothing with it.
  • Convincing teenagers of a bunch of information so they don’t walk away from Christianity if they go to college.
• What is Apologetics? How would you define Apologetics?
  
  
  
  
• Apologetics Definition (Dr. Jones):
  • “Apologetics is the reverent, reasonable, humble defense – through our words and through our lives – of the hope we have in the risen Christ, as this hope has been revealed in His word and in His world.”
  • Defense
    • ἀπολογία = a defense, argument
    • Acts 22:1; Acts 25:16; 1 Cor 9:3; Phil 1:16
    • 1 Peter 3:15
      
      

Apologetics Methods

• Why do methods matter? (3 reasons)
  • Congruity
    • Apologetics methods help you make certain that your approach to defending the faith matches your theology.
  • Humility
    • Past Christians have testified faithfully to the gospel and the truth of Scripture using apologetics methods. We don’t need to be innovative.
  • Intentionality
    • Apologetics methods help you to have a strategy when you encounter objections to the truth of Christianity.
  • Classical Apologetics - “two step approach”
    • Argues first for theism. (Prove there is a God)
    • Then for Christianity. (Prove that the God of the Bible is God)
    • A person must first accept that there is a God before they can put their trust in Him.
    • This method assumes that reason and evidence can establish theism and Christianity.
  • Evidentialist Apologetics - “one step approach”
    • This approach bypasses the need to argue for theism, this approach sees proving theism as optional, and goes straight to arguing for a historical case regarding, typically, one of the following:
      • The reliability of the Bible
      • The identity of Jesus
      • The resurrection of Jesus.
    • This method believes historical evidence concerning these topics may be sufficient enough to convince someone of Christianity without having to first establish theism.
  • The weaknesses of Classical and Evidentialist Apologetics
    • They appeal to people as primarily thinking beings who can be convinced by mere rationality of argument. If the argument is logical, they ought to simply believe it.
    • Our postmodern society has moved authority out from being external to internal
      • “The truth isn’t outside of me, it is what I deem as truth, my truth.”
      • Relativism in society prevents these logic based approaches from ultimately being as effective as they should be.
    • Presuppositional Apologetics
      • “Presuppositional apologetics is an approach to apologetics which aims to present a rational basis for the Christian faith and defend it against objections by exposing the logical flaws of other worldviews and hence demonstrating that biblical theism is the only worldview which can make consistent sense of reality.”
      • In Presuppositional Apologetics, you recognize that someone’s beliefs are filtered through the lens of their presuppositions or assumptions. People view the world through their preconceived notions.
      • Thus, we must help them to see that the Christian worldview is the only worldview that is logically consistent.
      • Example:
        • Morality
      • In Presuppositional Apologetics, we listen for someone’s presuppositions, expose them to them, and then help them to see the inconsistencies in their view so we can present the Biblical worldview.
    • Ultimately, I favor both Classical Apologetics and Presuppositional Apologetics. There are times for both Methods.
      
      

Purpose of Apologetics (4 Purposes)

1. Tolerance
   1. The defense of Christian practices for the purpose of preserving the free proclamation and practice of the gospel.
2. Protection
   1. The defense of Christian doctrine for the purpose of safeguarding the faith of believers.
3. Rationality
   1. Philosophical arguments for Christian theism for the purpose of strengthening the faith and worship of believers.
4. Evangelism
   1. The defense of Christian truth for the purpose of calling unbelievers to faith in Jesus.

 

Apologetics and Evangelism are Partners

Without a doubt, Thanksgiving is my favorite American Holiday, followed closely by St. Patrick’s Day (mostly just because I am Irish and love corned beef and cabbage).  

Black Friday notwithstanding, Thanksgiving still retains a modicum of purity.  The name of the holiday says it all . . . 

Thanks. Giving. Giving thanks.  

Granted, in our pluralistic and even atheistic American hodge-podge culture, it could be anyone’s guess to whom we should give thanks.  But, even a deaf, dumb, and blind student of our national history has to acknowledge the hand of Providence, as our Founders so often put it.  

Almighty God’s goodness to us in America has been unmerited and unprecedented in modern history.  Even on our worst day, we have many reasons to thank God.  Though it is in vogue among cultural elites and network media moguls to hate on America, this Marine Corps Captain is having none of it.  I have seen many other parts of the world.  I have witnessed people living in conditions worse than our pets.  I have seen what socialism and communism and atheistic Marxism produce.  As my youngest daughter would say, “It’s a no for me.”  

But even far above and beyond the rich blessings of living in America, we Christians ought never to cease praising and thanking our God for His kindnesses upon us in Christ our Lord.  Just a few generations prior to the American Revolution, my ancestors worshiped false druid deities.  And yet, here I am, a Baptist Pastor with a wife and children and church who love Jesus, confess Him as Lord and King, and delight in sharing His gospel with others.  All of grace!  O, for a thousand tongues to sing, our Great Redeemer’s praise!  

That was my Grandad McWhorter’s favorite hymn.  It was originally written by Charles Wesley in 1739, as an 18-stanza commemoration of the first anniversary of his conversion and new birth in Christ.  The original title was “For the Anniversary Day of One’s Conversion.”     

It would do us all some good, yea, even refresh our very souls, to sing this hymn as we gather ‘round the festive table this Thanksgiving.

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad the honors of Thy name.

Jesus, the name that calms my fears, that bids my sorrows cease; 
‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears; ‘Tis life and health and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free; 
His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.

 

The lack of biblical discernment among several big name evangelical leaders and churches is now beyond disturbing.  More and more reports of a new form of church segregation are popping up around the nation.  Ironically, some of the same pastors and leaders who have been slowly but surely drinking the Kool Aid of wokeness, which claims its aim is “antiracism,” are now encouraging if not outright instituting the sin of partiality in their churches!    

The church Pastor Tim Keller leads is now seating people by COVID-19 vaccination status.  Several other churches around the country are doing likewise.  Some churches are threatening to fire employees who refuse to take the shot.  Other prominent evangelical voices, such as John Piper, David French and Russell Moore, are beating the you-must-get-vaccinated-if-you-are-loving drum like hyped-up percussionists in a high school marching band competition.  

Some of us small fry pastors saw it coming some 15 months ago.  And to be fair, several large fry pastors and leaders did too, such as Voddie Baucham, Tom Ascol, Owen Strachan, Virgil Walker, Darrell Harrison, Jon Harris, John MacArthur, Allie Beth Stuckey, and Scott Brown, to name a few.

Way back in the Spring of 2020, the pastor-elders I served with began to prayerfully formulate our philosophy and strategy regarding this thing everyone was calling the COVID-19 pandemic.  Since it was so early on, with little to no actual data available, we withheld much of our own thoughts and opinions, or at least we decided not to say too much publicly.  Secretly, I shared with a trusted pastor friend that I suspected this thing might go down in history as one of the biggest overreactions and overreaches ever, but only time would tell.  I can now let this cat out of the proverbial bag only because more and more data is actually revealing I just may have been correct (even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then).  For example, if you haven’t heard this podcast titled “COVID by the Data” you must stop and listen now:

https://churchandfamilylife.com/podcasts/6155fe35b60cbf12ea836637 

Take a look at this webpage dashboard: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/drew.davis1802/viz/COVID19ResponseAnalysis/Overview

But before the data was available, our pastor-elders decided to nail down a few things, namely:

1. Medical issues such as wearing masks and getting vaccinations are, by and large, issues of individual Christian conscience.  There are no explicit biblical texts demanding a believer get a vaccine, for example.  Therefore, we must be silent where the Bible is silent, and allow believers to follow the Spirit’s guidance, particularly as He impresses our consciences.  Resisting the urge to argue and pass judgment, which always goes both ways, is paramount to the peace and gospel unity of a church in matters of Christian liberty (Romans 14).  
2. The enemy was going to use the hyper-politicization of seemingly everything in our culture, but especially issues surrounding this virus, to divide us.  Therefore, we must put on the whole armor of God (Eph 6:10-20) and not be ignorant of the devil’s schemes (2 Cor 2:11).  We must not allow Satan to divide us in the local church over issues not explicitly addressed in the Scripture.  Rally around the gospel and the confessions of faith we hold to dearly.  Learn to disagree on lesser matters as brothers and sisters in Christ.  
3. Do not lord over the flock in matters of individual Christian conscience (1 Peter 5:1-5).  Forcing people to mask-up to attend worship is not biblical nor God-honoring.  Forcing people to have no contact in worship gatherings is not biblical nor God-honoring.  And discriminating against people in a worship gathering based upon vaccination status is just plain satanic.  This is precisely what God forbids in James 2:1-13.  (Ironically, what woke leaders call “loving” is exactly what this text says is unloving.)  Making reasonable provisions for those at high risk of a disease is one thing.  Mandating medical treatments and forcibly seating people accordingly is altogether another animal, one which has rabies and will destroy a church.    
4. Obey the Word of Christ first and foremost, even if it means disobeying lesser authorities (Acts 5:29), and even if it makes us unpopular by the world’s standards.  Seeking to appease the world has never been a good evangelism strategy (John 15:18-25; 1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4).
5. Do not ask people to violate their consciences as Spirit-filled followers of Christ.  To do so is sin.  Can you wear a mask in faith and do you desire to do so?  Good. Carry on.  Or, would wearing a mask be something you could not do as an act of faith (taking God at His Word and resting in His finished work in Christ)?  Then do not.  Can you receive the shot in faith?  Fine. But if not, then do not.  “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Rom 14:23).  And whatever course you pursue in these matters of Christian liberty and conscience, led by the Spirit, pass no judgment on brothers and sisters who do otherwise.  

These principles seem so clear and explicitly biblical.  But far too many Christian leaders have over-complicated matters by being lured into the political fire-fight raging all around us.  What started as a simple plea to “flatten the curve” is now threatening to consume us all.  I do not pretend to understand all the connections and ramifications of what is happening . . .   

But I do know that not everything is political.  And when something is not political, such as medical treatment of a virus which can be researched and studied and then analyzed by a data-driven approach, we ought to resist all fleshly urges to politically weaponize it.  In so doing, we end up only hurting ourselves, for in Christ we are, in fact, ultimately only one body.  Pastors like Tim Keller may be shocked to find that they actually need those unvaccinated hands they are chopping off (1 Cor 12).  We all have a common enemy, and it’s not the church member who does not see this issue eye-to-eye with you.  

And I do know that not everything is a “gospel issue.”  In evangelical circles, some leaders are desperately trying to convince us that “social justice” (as defined by CRT, not the Bible) is a “gospel issue.”  So, if we do not renounce our whiteness, drop our privilege, and become an anti-racist activist for a this-worldly socialist utopia, we are peddling a truncated gospel.  It does not take a PhD in Political Science to see how this easily morphs into the argument that if you do not mask up and get a shot, you are unloving (and love is of course the gospel issue of all gospel issues).  

But adopting socialism or advocating for capitalism is not actually a gospel issue.  Getting a vaccine or refusing to do so or trusting natural immunity is not actually a gospel issue.  The Apostle Paul includes none of this nonsense when he proclaims the gospel of Christ crucified and risen (1 Cor 15:1-4).  

Politics are important, but not ultimate.  Politics, like all of life, flow from our theology and doctrine.  It strikes me that some of the Christian leaders who told us it was OK to vote for a politicians who support abortion and all sorts of sexual sinful perversions are the very same ones now telling us we are unloving non-gospel jerks if we do not do what those politicians say.  Nevertheless, we must resist the urge to both politicize and “gospelize” everything.  True believers are bound to come down on both sides of an issue as complex as preventing a virus.  Imagine if we politicized and polarized people based upon how they approach influenza.  Chaos would ensue.  Indeed, it has.         

For decades it has been popular for evangelical churches to craft a mission statement or motto that goes something like “The Great Commission and the Great Commandment.”  Sounds biblical and good.  But I fear we have conflated the two.  

We dare not forget that the Great Commission exists because nobody, not even one of us mere mortal humans, has ever fulfilled the Great Commandment.  

Gospel sanctification is the effect of gospel salvation, but never the cause of it or even a synergistic means of it.  God help us rally around the gospel of pure grace.     

“Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal 3:3)                                    

For more thoughts on these matters, check out this podcast:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEeSuo96ZxA

God has ordained government as the earthly authority with the power of the sword (Rom 13:1-7).  Governments are all accountable to the King of kings for how they rule (Dan 4; Rev 18).  Governments are beholden to God’s Word to discern good from evil.  The Bible is replete, however, with examples of earthly rulers and governments who refused to stay in their lane.  Kings who became tyrants. Governments who were godless.  The form of government matters, you see, because certain forms lend themselves more effectively to accountability before God and the citizenry.  The Doctrine of Depravity (mankind is inherently sinful, willfully wicked, and impacted in all his faculties by sin) warns us about placing too much authority into the hands of a single person, or a single entity.    

Never in my lifetime have I seen so many governmental power grabs in North America and the Western World.  Never have I seen the rule of law, and the neglect of the Constitution, so endemic in our President and Cabinet members and Congress and Governors.  There are now so many blatant attempts to overthrow our system of government and dominate the everyday lives of citizens in the US that I can hardly keep track.  These are indeed perilous times.  When Big Tech and Big Business links arm with Big Government Lady Liberty is on the chopping block!     

I recently came across a few quotes on my friend’s blog and found them to be an accurate diagnosis.  Pay attention to when (the date) each quote was written.

“In the anti-Christian perspective, the function of the state, first of all, is to represent men rather than God. The state denies the sovereignty of God and, in the name of the people, it asserts its own sovereignty. Second, the modern state declares itself to be a human institution whose function is to promote human welfare. With this pretension that human welfare in the broadest sense is the state’s concern, the state usurps the right of man to govern himself under God. The state becomes the totality of government, human and divine. Third, justice is now defined as meeting man’s needs and wants. From the days of the Roman Empire to the present, the road to statism has been the assertion that “the health of the people is the highest law.” In the name of the general welfare, the state institutes general tyranny and slavery. Justice is denied to the citizen and subject in the name of social justice, meeting the needs of men en masse. But social justice is not justice at all, because it is anti-personal. The requirements of justice are the requirements of the second table of the law, that man’s life, home, property, and reputation be respected in word and deed. Social justice denies the integrity of man’s life, home, property, and reputation in the name of classes of men, of men as a body, and men as a body means the state! Thus, social justice means the denial of justice because social justice is anti-personal. It is not the property of the individual, nor his life, home, and reputation which count, but the demands of a class as embodied in the state. And, since the state takes over the function of that class, whether the nobility or workers, the class itself loses all individual rights to the state. Social justice is always a paramount and central doctrine of statism, and the pretension to general welfare concerns is an instrument to power” (R.J. Rushdoony, The Politics of Guilt and Pity, 1970).  

“Throughout the history of the Christian church, Christianity has always stood over against all forms of statism. Statism is the natural and ultimate enemy to Christianity because it involves a usurpation of the reign of God. If Francis Schaeffer was right — and each year that passes makes his prognosis seem all the more accurate — it means that the church and the nation face a serious crisis in our day. In the final analysis, if statism prevails in America, it will mean not only the death of our religious freedom, but also the death of the state itself. We face perilous times where Christians and all people need to be vigilant about the rapidly encroaching elevation of the state to supremacy” (R.C. Sproul, “Statism,” Sep. 1, 2008, www.ligonier.org) 

In the end, followers of Jesus must rest in the promise of God, come what may:

“The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Messiah, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.  Then He will speak to them in His wrath and terrify them in His fury, saying, ‘As for Me, I have set My King on Zion, My holy hill’” (Psalm 2:2-6).  

The sage Psalmist still rings true to all who by grace will hear and heed:

“Now therefore O kings be wise; be warned O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry with you and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled.  Blessed are all who take refuge in Him” (Psalm 2:10-12).

“Woe to you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20).  

At one of the most divisive political times in our nation’s history, Speaker Nancy Pelosi knows how to bring her party together.  

The deceptively named “Women’s Health Protection Act” seeks to wipe out all the various pro-life laws passed by the states, and permanently legalize abortion on demand, for any reasons whatsoever, right up until birth.  This is one truly barbaric piece of legislation.  The only things it would protect are murder, racist infanticide, abuse of women, and oppression of the disabled.      

If there are any remaining “Evangelicals for Biden” out there, or any life-loving, God-fearing, Bible-revering Christians who somehow still justify voting for democrats, I am simply at a loss for words.  All but 1 democrat in the House of Representatives voted for this wicked legislation.  And 100% of the House Republicans voted against it.  

So, just in case we were not already crystal clear on it, the issue of abortion is at once the most divisive and unifying issue of our time.  A vote for a democrat is a vote for slicing up babies in wombs, with ruthless disregard for both the mother and child.  And, it scarcely matters how “centrist” or even “right-leaning” the democrat claims to be on other issues.  It matters not whether the democrat claims to be Christian (many in the House who voted for this sick excuse for law do claim to follow Jesus).  A vote for a democrat is a vote sure to result in millions more deaths of the most innocent and defenseless among us.  A vote for a democrat ensures America continues to push abortion down the throats of countless 3rd and 4th World nations.  When will BLM and the Critical Theorists take up the mantle of the truly oppressed?  The Democratic Party Platform is chocked full of calling evil good.    

I am sick and tired of prominent evangelical pastors and leaders, many of whom are in my own denomination, providing political loopholes and justifications for voting for democrats.  This past year’s Southern Baptist Convention had so many of our top leaders doing a jig to make sure we are somehow a-political.  Unity in the gospel was the rally cry, all while seeking to assuage the consciences of those who were patting themselves on the back for ousting a President whose tweets were mean.  I cannot personally think of anything meaner or more prideful than the promotion of abortion.  How can we be unified in the gospel, which proclaims Jesus died for people, when some among us support the wholesale slaughter of people?  

It is time for pastors and true Christians to speak out like never before.  Hit the sidewalks in front of abortion clinics like never before.  Pray like never before.  Preach like never before.  Call upon anyone who supports pro-abortion politicians to repent like never before.  Counsel at Pro-life pregnancy centers like never before!  The religion of child sacrifice in America must be stopped.  O God, help!  

This post will get me accused of being too crass.  Unloving. Unkind. 

Babies’ skulls are being crushed!  Babies’ brains are being sucked out of their heads!  Babies’ limbs are being torn apart!  Mothers’ wombs, the very God-designed incubators of life, are being made death chambers.  Mothers’ and fathers’ emotions are being mocked.  Their life-long trauma is being celebrated and endorsed.  Their most base inclinations are being stimulated.  Infanticide is being trivialized. 

And God, the Judge of all the earth, sees, knows, and cares.

Do we?

The song by Alan Jackson, “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” says it well.  It did feel like everything in the world was on pause, on that day twenty years ago. 

9/11. 

Much like my grandparents who never forgot where they were and what they were doing when news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor was published, so those of us who were of a reasonable age on September 11^th, 2001 will never forget.  We cannot erase the images from our minds.    

On that day, 2,996 divine image bearers had their lives snuffed out. Gone. In a moment. Launched into eternity to meet their Creator God.  Our hearts still break for those grieving the irreplaceable loss of a husband, dad, wife, mom, sister, brother, friend, co-worker, peer, fellow church member, or child.  Unspeakable trauma was foisted upon us as a nation.  I honestly still get queasy if I dwell on it too long (and I generally have a pretty strong gut).  May the Lord comfort us as we remember and mourn. 

This particular 9/11, twenty years later, feels especially gloomy.  Our Nation has experienced unprecedented government responses to a very precedented virus.  To see “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave” locked up, shut down, masked up, forced to take a shot, shut up, canceled, divided, hateful, rioting, looting, cussing, suspicious and cowering has been traumatic on us all.  To add insult to injury, hurricanes, wild fires, earthquakes and drought seem to plague us non-stop.  And then there’s the thought of Americans left behind in Afghanistan.  Queasy. Again. 

I, like most of you, can rant on these things for hours, from various angles (political, theological, emotional, sociological).  But now is not the time. Not today.  Not now.  It is a time to weep.  To reflect. To cry. To pray. To return to our God.  Through repentance of sin. By faith in Jesus Christ.  Who endured more wrath and trauma, as He hung on the cross in our place, than we could ever imagine. 

The Lord Jesus is our only hope, America.  Christ Jesus is the only hope, World. 

And we Christians, who by the sovereign saving grace of God have this living hope, are going to have to stand while the world shakes and calmly, boldly say to the shaken:

“What God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He thus fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:18-21).

“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!  O how the mighty are fallen!”  (2 Sam 1:19)

This famous lament was uttered by David upon receiving the news of the death of King Saul and his son, and David’s best friend, Jonathan. 

It seems a fitting epitaph for what we Americans have witnessed over the last few weeks.  The military retrograde and evacuation of citizens and allies from Afghanistan has been embarrassing, to say the least.  So many of us veterans hardly know what to think.  We could not believe our eyes.  The whole thing has pulled scabs off so many wounds.  Earlier this week, I stood and teared up with a fellow pastor who served in Vietnam.  The hurt is palpable and indescribable to those who have not experienced the military life, not to mention actual combat.  To know that those 11 Marines, 1 Soldier and 1 Navy Corpsman were slaughtered right beside their warrior buddies is too much to stomach.  We grieve with their families, as well as the hundreds and thousands of grieving families in Afghanistan.  For all the President’s talk of success, it looks much more like defeat.  Dare I say Divine judgment? 

I have no intent to go on an angry rant.  God is sovereign. Period. May we trust Him, even in the midst of absolute chaos.  And I want to say that in some ways, the evacuation was amazing.  The numbers of people airlifted out successfully by our military (and many other organizations and people) are astounding.  Given the hand they were dealt by those at high echelons of command in our nation, our troops, as always, acquitted themselves with distinction and honor. 

It has been almost surreal to me to watch my old boss (then LtCol Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr.) giving regular briefings on various news outlets.  General `rank` McKenzie, Commander of Central Command, was known to me during my two years working directly for him as a Supply Officer (1997-99), as a man of integrity.  His military IQ was stratospheric.  His grasp of military history and tactics was impressive.  We all knew he was destined for great things in the Corps.  So, I cannot believe that the “plan” we have watched unfold in the last two weeks was actually his plan.  The General McKenzie I knew was way too smart to entrust American lives to the Taliban, and would have rather taken severe beatings than to leave any Americans behind enemy lines.  I have to believe he just did the best he could, like all our troops, with the horrific situation he was put in by the President and his administration.  And maybe one day, when Gen. McKenzie is comfortably retired, we may hear the truth, or at least some of it.  One thing’s for sure, I have been praying for him diligently, as I cannot imagine being in his shoes. 

Well, friends, I don’t have much more to say.  I really do not know what to think.  Throughout Israel’s history in the Bible, God routinely gave them leaders after their own hearts.  And, God often used wicked nations to punish Israel for spurning His grace and blessings.  Read the Minor Prophets.  While I know America is not Old Covenant Israel, I am inclined to believe the Omnipotent Lord of all Creation does not change, and still governs the world the way He always has.  God alone raises up nations, appoints rulers, and also brings them crashing down (Daniel 4; Revelation).  God’s judgment upon Israel took hundreds of years to play out.  We Americans can only hope the Lord is as long-suffering with us. 

We are getting what we deserve, at least in part.  The fact that we are still a nation, still so blessed, still able to hear the good news of Jesus, the Savior of sinners who repent and confess Him as Lord, is clear evidence of God’s continued, ill-deserved, always-unmerited grace upon us.  Let’s go tell of Him . . . while we still can. 

“Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?  Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!” (Lamentations 3:39-40)