Is God Male Or Female?

In today's society referring to God as "he" is down right politically incorrect.  We sometimes hear God referred to as she or Mother/Father God.  There is also the worship of mother earth.  Goddess worship has even become popular in our increasingly pagan culture.  

But the God who is there has revealed himself to us in the Bible.  We must look to it as the inerrant, infallible, authoritative Word of God.  In the Bible there is one God in three persons, the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  In the Bible God is the Father, not the mother.  He is the King and not the queen.  God is always he and not she. Old Testament Israel is pictured as his wife. 

Jesus is God the Son, not the daughter.  In the Incarnation God became man and not woman. Jesus is the God-man not the God-woman.  The Son is always he and not she.   In the New Testament the church is pictured as the bride of Christ.  God the Holy Spirit is always referred to as he and not she or it.  

The masculine language is not just symbolic because God the Father is actually father to God the Son.  We must point out that women are not inferior because God is male and not female.  Women are made in the image of God and have equal value to men.  Men and women are equal although they are not the same and have different roles.   We should also point out that Christianity has raised the status of women.  

The patriarchy taught by the Bible drives feminists insane, but the truth of the Bible must be accepted.   Our theology must be Biblical and not feminist.  Our views should not be conditioned by our culture.  Referring to God as she or mother is blasphemy and the worship of goddesses is just plain idolatry. The one, true God hates such things.   

When The Persecution Comes

Christians in many places around the world face severe persecution.  They face suffering, imprisonment, and even death for their testimony of Jesus and the Word of God.  Also the persecution of Christians has been common throughout history.  But in America there has been little real persecution of Christians.  The persecution faced by American Christians has been relatively minor.  It usually only consists of being ridiculed, made fun of, or being shunned by a group.  

But serious persecution of Christians may come to the United States.  It does seem to be heading in that direction.  Our culture keeps becoming more secular and more hostile to Christianity.  For example, if someone mentions that homosexuality is a sin he is severely criticized by the culture.  At some point this may be labeled as hate speech.  

Of course Christ and the cross is the biggest offense of all.  Unbelievers actually hate Christ and the truth.  He shines light into the darkness and exposes their evil deeds (John 3:19-21).  Jesus confronts people with the reality of their sinfulness and the fact that they are guilty before God.  People do not like being told that they are sinners in need of a savior.  

So if persecution comes what will become of Christianity in America?  Evangelicalism is said to be a mile wide and an inch deep.  The modern American church is shallow and does not have a deep understanding of the Bible.  The number of professing Christians will probably decrease dramatically.  Many professing Christians never were true Christians to begin with.  Some mega churches will no longer be mega.  If persecution comes being a Christian will become serious business (as it should be already).  It will no longer be like becoming a member of a country club.  People like Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, and Mike Murdock will disappear from the scene.  The prosperity preachers will take the money and run.  But a remnant of true believers will remain faithful.  

Persecution will bring purity to the church though we should not seek persecution.  It is actually normal for Christians to be persecuted and hated by the world.  They hated Christ and they will hate his followers also (Luke 17:21, John 15:18-25).  We should pray that we will remain faithful when persecution comes.  We should count it as an honor to suffer for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41, Matthew 5:10-12). 

America: Christian Or Secular?

Is America a Christian nation?  Some act as if all of the founders were devout Christians and others act as if they were all atheists.  The truth is that some of the founders were indeed committed Christians but others were not.  There was somewhat of a Biblical worldview in place at the time of the founding of America.  Even Deists like Jefferson and Franklin still had somewhat of a Biblical worldview.  

The American Revolution was not anti- Christian as was the French Revolution.   The French Revolution opposed Christianity and tradition.  It tried to enthrone human reason as king.  The French Revolution turned into a blood bath and a disaster.  The American Revolution produced a republic that became a great country.  

The American system of government was influenced by Biblical teaching.  The separation of powers and the system of checks and balances were influenced by the Biblical doctrine of the sinfulness of man.  The founders realized that men cannot be trusted with too much power.  They also set up a republic and not a democracy.  They saw that pure democracy could devolve into nothing more than mob rule.  

The United States of America could only have come out of the Biblical worldview.  Freedom requires form and the Biblical foundation provided it.  To remain free people have to be able to govern themselves.  There must be a restrained freedom.  There must be a recognition of truth and the rule of law.  The Biblical worldview provided the proper balance and held it all together.  

Unfortunately the Biblical foundation has been destroyed.  Our country no longer recognizes Biblical teaching as foundational.  Instead our modern nation rests on a foundation of secularism.  It is almost as if secular liberals want to follow in the steps of the French Revolution.  Our nation will not survive on a secular foundation.  Our country is falling apart and heading for disaster.  We must recover a Biblical foundation in America.  

 

Does Poverty Cause Terrorism?

President Obama seems to think that poverty is a cause of terrorism.  It certainly would not be caused by a wonderful, peaceful religion.  If the guys in ISIS and other terrorist groups just had job opportunities they would probably give up terrorism.  If anyone knows how to create jobs it is President Obama.  

President Obama seems to think that the grievances of the terrorists need to be addressed.  We see his Marxist worldview shining through once again.  After all the terrorists have been oppressed by America and the West.  The wealth of the United States and the West needs to be redistributed to them.  

President Obama and other secular liberals do not see Islamic terrorism as the serious threat that it is.  They cannot even identify it as Islamic.  They think the real threat of our time is global warming.  

But Islamists are just plain evil and must be dealt with.  The Islamists ideology comes directly from the Koran.  This is not politically correct to say but it is true.  If you look into the Koran it is not hard to see why they kill Christians and Jews and anyone else they disagree with.  The Islamists seek to impose sharia law on everyone.  

The real problem behind terrorism is not poverty.  The real problem is Koranic Islam with it's teachings.  They need to embrace the truth of the Bible and be set free from their false religion.   

Those Red Letter Bibles

Many Bibles today have the words of Christ in red.  In fact many people even insist on having a red letter Bible.  Is this good, bad, or neither?  Could there possibly be a problem with red letter Bibles?  

We must point out that the words of Christ were not originally written or printed in red and they were not set apart in a special way. Having the words of Christ in red is a relatively new thing, beginning in the 1900's.  It seems good to have the words of Christ in red.  After all Christians follow Jesus who is the Messiah and Son of God.  

But what about the words of God the Father?  Why are they not in red?  And wasn't the whole Bible inspired by the Holy Spirit?  Here we find the problem with red letter Bibles.  The whole Bible is the Word of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  The whole Bible, not just the words in red are the Word of Christ.  

Setting apart only certain portions of the Scripture in red is misleading to people.  It leads people to believe that the red letter portions are more important than the rest.  This is not true, God gave us the entire Bible for a reason.  People start to think that the words in red are more the Word of God than the rest.  I have even heard people say that they just believe the words in red. This is a terribly distorted view of the Bible.  

So is having a red letter Bible a bad thing? It is not necessarily a bad thing if kept in proper perspective.  But it is still very misleading to people.  I think it is better not to have red letter Bibles.  But that does not mean there is anything wrong with using one.  We must remember that all Scripture is breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3:16).        

Obama, Islam, And Christianity

At the recent National Prayer Breakfast President Obama warned Christians not to get on their high horse and criticize Islam.  Obama brought up the Crusades and slavery as atrocities done in the name of Christ.  President Obama refuses to link terrorism with Islam.  He believes that Islam is a wonderful, peaceful religion.  Some even think that Obama is a Muslim.  While I do not think he is a Muslim, he is sympathetic to Islam.  

Obama actually professes to be a Christian.  He seems to hold to Liberation theology which is nothing more than Marxism with Christian language.  In fact Liberation theology is not Christianity at all.  It was taught by Barack Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright.  Liberation theology is all about the oppressed and the oppressors.  Of course Obama sees Islam as the oppressed and historic Christianity as the oppressor. 

On the issue of slavery there were some people who tried to justify it in the name of Christianity unfortunately.  But Obama fails to point out that the abolitionists were Christians.  It must also be pointed out that slavery did not begin with the Christian West but abolition did.  

So what about the Crusades?  They were started in 1095 by the Roman Catholic Church. The Crusades actually started as a defense against Muslims.  Islam had conquered the Middle East centuries before.  The region had been a Christian center.  But the Christians were driven out, enslaved, or killed by the Muslims.  Muslims later moved northward toward Europe to take over Christian lands. So to a certain extent the Crusades can be justified as a defensive act.  But there were also atrocities committed by the Crusaders.  In actuality the Crusaders forsook the teachings of Christ and adopted Islamic theology.    

Islam originally spread by the sword starting with Muhammad.  Others were conquered in order to have them submit to Islam.  You had to convert to Islam or be enslaved or killed. The Muslim claim on the land of the Middle East is obviously bogus.  They took it by force from others.  It appears that Islam owes an apology to Christians and the West. 

Some think that all religions are the same but they are not.  Islamic terrorists are simply following the teachings of Muhammad and the Koran.  While the atrocities of the Crusaders were not the teachings of Christ or the Bible.  While we must point out that not all Muslims are terrorists, Islam is not a wonderful, peaceful religion.  Islam is a false religion that leads many people astray. Truth and reality are found in Christianity. Those who want peace must look to Jesus who is the Prince of Peace.       

Who Was John Knox?

John Knox lived from (1513-1572).  He was the most important figure during the Reformation in Scotland.  Little is known about his early life.  In the early 1540's he was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest.  By the mid 1540's he had been influenced by Reformed teaching and had adopted Reformation principles.  

For a while the Reformed movement made progress in Scotland.  But then the Catholics regained control and Protestants were imprisoned.  John Knox spent 18 months in prison.  In 1549 Knox returned to his work of reforming the church in Scotland.  He was then sent into exile and arrived in Geneva in 1554.  

While in Geneva John Knox was greatly influenced by John Calvin and his teaching.  When Knox returned to Scotland in 1559 he set out to do what Calvin had done in Geneva.  Knox referred to Calvin's Geneva as "the most perfect school of Christ there ever was on earth."  

By 1560 Knox had established Presbyterianism as the church of Scotland.  He is credited as the founder of Presbyterianism.  Knox laid out three marks of a true church.  The preaching of the Word, the right administering of the sacraments or ordinances (the Lord's Supper and baptism), and the practice of church discipline.  Knox also conducted a massive educational effort.  Scotland became a mostly literate country.  Knox led the church in Scotland for over a decade.