A Message from Ken Ham

We’ve all heard the adage “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” But, how often have we seen it? I have personally seen it lived out in its truest sense on a few of occasions, but none so honest, precise and Christ honoring as last night.

I attended a meeting in which Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis (AiG), was the keynote speaker. The meeting was held at a fundamentalist college that is known for its King James Only position amongst other “typical” positions that are popularly associated with fundamentalism today. To my knowledge, Ken Ham has never expressed any specific relation to fundamentalism nor to any denomination, for that matter. Yet, he brought a message that was more important than any denominational barrier. He overlooked whatever differences he had with the hosting school, as did the school with him, and a vital challenge was brought to the direct attention of God’s people.

As I watched, a vital challenge was placed before me.

Good Things Can Lead to the Wrong Place

“The biggest failures in life are successes outside of the will of God.” So went one of the oft-quoted sayings of my Bible college. How true it is: oftentimes, we are distanced from God by good things. A good job, a good friend, a good education, or a good reputation can all be things God does not want us to have, yet in the quest for bettering ourselves, and in ignorance of all the counsel of God, we sometimes quickly accept these things on the basis of being good.

There are some good things we share with Catholicism. But we must never forget that there is a great divide for a reason. The Reformation happened for a reason. Throughout the centuries, Christians were martyred as they called the pope Antichrist for a reason. Yet we as Bible believing Christians can agree, for the most part, with conservative Catholic politics in America, at least when it comes to moral issues. Like us, Rome is opposed to abortion, stem cell research, and gay marriage. This has caused many in the evangelical/fundamentalist circle to join hands with Rome to campaign for traditional values. It may also be a determining factor in President Bush’s rumored conversion to Catholicism, which may come true after his presidency.

Encouraging Sunday Video, 7.27.08

The Morality of Warning

Many preachers have used the illustration of a bridge being out to drive home the point of urgent evangelism. Usually, it is said that up ahead the bridge is out, and in order to warn people of the consequent destruction, some brave soul exits his car and begins screaming and waving his arms to warn drivers to stop before it’s everlastingly too late. From this scenario, we glean a necessary truth about evangelism: warning plays a major part in the evangelistic life.

I’d like to suggest that today we must add one more element to this common sermon illustration. Typically, we understand that in this situation, many will drive right past the preacher on the side of the road and fall miserably off the bridge. Those same people may even call that screaming preacher “crazy”. Now, however, there is more to the story. On the other side of the road, there is another guy. He is just as energetic, just as bold, and just as convinced he is right. He is holding a sign that reads: “Don’t trust the guy on the other side. The bridge is not out. He is lying to you.”

As we’ve noted before, there is a growing, offensive movement to undermine Christianity. It appears in the form of Jesusanity, the New Atheism, and other various forms of liberalism. It is not just one of unbelief – driving by the preacher and thinking he’s crazy. It is one that vehemently opposes all that Christians stand for – trying to convince the world that we’re wrong about the bridge being out. As I listen to more of this kind of thinking, I’ve realized that we’re actually accused of being immoral because we warn people of the coming judgment. Are they right? Are we immoral?

Finishing the Work

There are few things that are less attractive than an unfinished job site. Whether it is construction on a building or the landscaping around it, nothing ruins a scene like torn up ground, loud heavy machinery, and a crew of big sweaty workers standing around watching one guy do all the work. With road work, add to that scene the inconvenience of obstructing the ride to work, as if traffic wasn’t bad enough!

However, the truth is, without construction things never improve. Buildings never get bigger. Roads never get wider. Things never get better unless someone breaks things down in order to rebuild. We know this, but knowing it doesn’t make the job site easier to look at.

There is little difference between this and the Christian life. If we were honest with ourselves would have to recognize that we are nothing more than unfinished job sites. There may not be any heavy machinery, but the scene can be just as ugly.

Encouraging Sunday Video, 7.20.08

If you have yet to be acquainted with Blair Wingo’s poetry, allow me to introduce you to one of her gems: “Don’t Add On”

Great Things I Have Learned from Fundamentalism

To keep in tune with a positive approach, as I have determined to do, and in contrast to the criticism of fundamentalism found on this blog, I would like to highlight just a few of the invaluable things I have gleaned from being a fundamentalist.

So there is no question about it, I am still a fundamentalist. As stated before, I love and appreciate the ideals of fundamentalism as expressed historically. I believe these tenets are rooted in scripture and manifested in Christ and the apostles. Fundamentalism is a love for the truth – a love that must defend the truth and separate from error. In this regard, I will always be a fundamentalist, even if the modern movement known as “fundamentalism” continues to drift from its original intent. It is this modern movement of which I speak…or of which I type. . .and I want to make sure it is known that, although I have some concerns, not all is bad. In fact, much of modern fundamentalism is good, and God has used these things to shape my life, as He continue to do.

The Scarlet Hope

Another one of the Bible’s marks of Divine inspiration is its tremendous unity. Within the subject of the unity of the Bible, several other interesting characteristics emerge: the absence of contradictions, typology, numerology, and the law of first mention.

The law, or principle, of first mention is a hermeneutic device that can be employed on many (but not all) occasions of an important biblical word’s first appearance in scripture. Henry Morris, in Many Infallible Proofs, explains:

The very first time an important word or concept of scripture is mentioned in the Bible, its usage in that passage provides the foundation for its full development in later parts of the Bible.

Such is the case with words like “light”, “blood”, and “faith.” What is really amazing, though, is the first appearance of the word “hope.”

A Program of Practice

Let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

If one were to take a look at many of the blogs produced by young fundamentalists such as myself, he would find that it is becoming more common to reject virtually everything fundamentalism is known for. While it is true that some changes need to be made, and are being made, we must be careful to not change simply for the sake of change. There were and are still some things about fundamentalism that are extremely helpful. We may not all like certain details, but how we go about these things is between us and God.

One such area up for dispute is that of evangelism. As fundamentalists, we are taught that the highest priority in life – the reason God left us here on earth – is to share the gospel with the lost. Of all the commandments Jesus gave to us, the one we all call the Great Commission deals with that very thing. And so, being the movement known for its passion and zeal, fundamentalism has placed an intense emphasis on personal evangelism as well as church-organized evangelism. As many leave, or consider leaving the movement, evangelism as a program is being rejected. The reasoning seems to be, that since it is everyone’s job to preach the gospel, as long as the church is training people to do so, an organized program is not needed. Programs, after all, can easily become a substitution for one’s personal spirituality. While I agree with some of this reasoning, I conclude differently. Evangelism should be both a personal practice and an organized program.

Encouraging Sunday Video, 7.13.08

The honesty of the biblical penmen is just one of the Bible’s marks of Divine Authorship.

Archaeological Affirmations (7/10)

A few weeks ago, we published a post on confirmation of the Bible offered by Archaeology. The post was purposefully general. However, I would like to start addressing specific archaeological finds that affirm the biblical record and give us more evidence to believe. I cannot say how frequent or how consistent these will be, but I guess we’ll see.  

Evidence from Ebla

Two professors from the University of Rome, archaeologist Dr. Paolo Matthiae and epigrapher Dr. Giovanni Pettinato, began their work in 1964 excavating a site at Tell Mardikh in Syria. By 1968, they had uncovered a statue of King Ibbit-Lim with an inscription referencing Ishtar, the godess who “shines brightly in Ebla.” This was the first of many phenomenal discoveries to come.

Faith-Based Initiatives and Initiative-Based Faith

There has not been much said on our blog about this year’s presidential race. I suspect that will change as the race draws to an end. Until then, I just have a thought.

There is a term being thrown around a lot in recent days conscerning not only the two leading presidential candidates but also the current president. “Faith-based initiatives” are being discussed by both McCain and Obama, and usually both candidates somehow reference President Bush’s proposals for these initiatives.

Here in the U.S., the term faith-based is often used to describe religious organizations and distinguish those organizations from government, public or private secular organizations. The truth is, in this context “faith-based” is only used as a euphemism for “religious” in order to avoid the sticky issue of whether such funding is permissible by the Constitution.

Encouraging Sunday Video, 7.6.08

Here’s two, serving distinct yet wonderfully compatible purposes to get you ready for this Sunday!

Doubting the Gospel of Thomas

Based upon the comments from a previous post about the Gnostic gospels, and Judas in particular, I’d like to consider the validity of the Gospel of Thomas.

One thing that I find fascinating about the product of Jesusanity studies is how quick people are to discount scores and years of evidence in support of traditional Christian views in order to accept new theories based on flaky and minute evidence. This is something that is addressed in Gary Habermas’ debate with Kenneth Humphreys on the resurrection, as in other debates.

I have found the same in conversing with friends. One such friend of mine actually teaches Sunday School at his Catholic parish, yet doesn’t believe the Bible at all. In fact, he denies the traditional Christian view of Jesus. When we talked about this, I could sense an influence of Ehrman, Crosson, Borg, and other Jesusanity scholars. Now, it’s not that their information is to be completely discounted either. But the sad fact is that even those within the realm of Christendom seem more energetic to believe one side of the story and take for granted that what the Church has told them for centuries is simply fable. To be fair, we must examine both sides.The side of Jesusanity uses the Gospel of Thomas as a key in understanding an alternative view of Christianity. Is it a credible source on which a new theory could be based? I doubt it.

Who Says Jesus Existed? (follow up)

The four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the primary sources for information about the life of Christ. However, as we saw in the previous post, there is a significant amount of evidence for the existence of Jesus from sources outside the Bible that confirm the Biblical record. Included in these sources are the witness of historians, government officials, and Jewish and Gentile documents that are all dated within 150 years of the life of Christ. Their testimonies are valuable because they were actually hostile witnesses which had no incentive to falsify their account.

As a follow up post, I would like to take a look at what these sources actually have to say.

Who Says Jesus Existed?

One of the more popular accusations brought against Biblical Christianity is that there are no external sources that confirm the Biblical record of Jesus of Nazareth. Most simply deny the accuracy of the New Testament in details of the life of Jesus, but others boldly deny that He existed at all. Either way, the accusation is based on a supposed lack of written historical evidence outside of the Bible referring to the existence of Jesus.

However, there are numerous sources that yield historical confirmation of the Biblical record, such as in the field of archeology. The fact is, whether it is simply the result of misinformation or plain ignorance of the facts, denying that there are extra-biblical sources that confirm the existence of Jesus simply has no credible basis. But, far be it from me to make such a claim without giving any supporting information.