Lucas Jackson — “Cool Hand” Luke to film buffs — was the world’s most noted non-conformist ever to flicker on the silver screen. The movie Cool Hand Luke (1967) was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Actor (Paul Newman, who lost to Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night), Best Supporting Actor (George Kennedy), Best Adapted Screenplay (Donn Pearce and Frank R. Pierson), and Best Original Mu [...]

It seems that every time there is a council meeting the issue of prayer comes up. A Christian prays in Jesus’ name during the meeting and the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State jump in and dub these prayers unconstitutional. What does the Constitution really say? Watch Vantage Point to find out. [...]

Before Harold Camping, there were Chuck Smith and Hal Lindsey. Lindsey is the author of widely and wildly popular The Late Great Planet Earth (1970). Smith has been the pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California, since 1965. He is a popular and well-respected Bible teacher. What many people don’t know or remember is that he set some very specific dates of his own in the 1970s. I wonder wha [...]

How is it possible that most evangelical critics of Harold Camping are more dangerous than the failed prognosticator? For the simple reason that it’s no longer May 21, 2011, and Harold Camping will be relegated to the dust bin of prophetic history, but prophecy prognosticators will continue to abound by claiming that Jesus is still coming “soon” even if we don’t know the “day and hour.” In nearly [...]

Commissioners from Forsyth County in North Carolina appeared before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to appeal a District Court’s decision to bar commissioners from opening public meetings with prayers prayed in Jesus’ name. The ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State argued (naturally) that sectarian prayers to any deity violate the First Amendment. The Fir [...]

There has been much passionate debate over the legalization of homosexual marriage, with illogical arguments on both sides. Rep. Simon of Minnesota states some very unfounded and illogical arguments in favor of homosexual marriage. In this episode of Vantage Point, Gary takes these arguments apart and shows why they are faulty. [...]

Many pastors and modern prophecy writers teach that the Church will be raptured off the earth prior to a seven year tribulation. Where in the Bible is this found? Nowhere. Confused? Watch this edition of Vantage Point for an honest look at the “rapture”. [...]

What is the proper relationship between praying and doing? That is, after praying is the petitioner required to do anything about what she is praying for? If a person prays for employment, does he have to look for work? When you pray to play the piano well, do you still have to practice? Praying that someone will be warmed and filled is not enough (James 2:16). We can apply the faith without works [...]

The newspapers are commenting regularly on the Harold Camping claim that a so-called rapture will take place on May 21, 2011 with the end of the world to following on October 21st. Here’s one that National Public Radio (NPR) posted on its website: “Is the End Nigh? We’ll Know Soon Enough.” Even the international press has been reporting on Harold Camping’s end-time prediction. “If Mr Camping were [...]

Many Christian teachers, authors and preachers have been saying that the Rapture could occur at any moment. Most recently, Harold Camping has said that the Rapture will be on May 21, 2011 and many of his followers are traveling around warning others, some have even quit their jobs. The group American Atheists is planning Rapture Parties across the country to show how silly it is to them. The athei [...]

I never thought I would ever say that I agree with atheists about the way some Christians interpret the Bible. But on the subject of Bible prophecy, these atheists are partially right. The group American Atheists is planning a “Rapture Party” on May 21–22 for “heathens and skeptics.” They’re advertising the event on a billboard. Here’s the message: “The Rapture: You KNOW it’s Nonsense. 2000 Years [...]

Atheism seems to be on the rise. A number of young people are taking to it like they did to disco in the 1970s. But alas, like all trends, it met its end on Disco Demolition Night July 12, 1979 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, where a crate filled with records was blown up on the field. It took young people less than a decade to find out how silly they looked. [...]

Vincent Bugliosi has struggled with whether God exists. He’s not sure, and he contends that both sides in the debate should not be dogmatic. The opening words on the flap of his new book Divinity of Doubt: The God Question ((Vincent Bugliosi, Divinity of Doubt: The God Question (New York: Vanguard Press, 2010), 129.)) summarize his position: “Do you believe in God? If your answer is yes or no, Vin [...]

Another elephant thrower has emailed me. This time it’s a self-professed 76-year-old “grumpy old man” named Neil C. Reinhardt. He’s an atheist, pro-abortionist, hater of religion, and lover of war. He goes by the moniker “religion sucks.” Like so many people who have too much time on their hands, an internet connection, and a bone to pick with someone, he demands that I should answer all of his ob [...]

[caption id=“attachment_4285” align=“alignleft” width=“300” caption=““Defeat of the Turks at the Gates of Vienna””][/caption] Joel Richardson believes the Bible teaches “that the biblical Antichrist is one and the same as the Quran’s Muslim Mahdi.” ((“Get ready for an Islamic Antichrist, warns new book,” World Net Daily (August 3, 2009)) [...]

By Jerry Newcombe Editor’s Note: By now you are aware of the pastor who burned a copy of the Koran and the reaction of some radical Muslims overseas. These advocates of the “religion of peace” killed people because a copy of their sacred book was defiled. They have no problem blowing up mosques and fellow Muslims where I’m sure copies of the Koran were present. The reaction of political pundits is [...]

Joel Richardson, a pen name, is a prophecy writer who rejects the long-held Roman/European end-time antichrist theory made popular by the Scofield Reference Bible and later dispensational writers for what he conceives to be an Islamic/Middle Eastern end-time theory and a Muslim antichrist. He’s written several books and articles on the subject. Two books have gained a lot of attention: Antichrist: [...]

What does it mean to “throw the elephant”? A person responds to an argument by dumping loads of seemingly relevant information on it, calls it a “refutation,” and declares himself the winner, all the while hoping his opponent won’t notice how faulty much of the information is. The internet has made throwing the elephant a favorite tactic of anti-Christian bigots. It used to be that a response requ [...]

When Michael Horton’s Putting Amazing Back into Grace was first published, I read it with great interest. While most of the book is worthwhile and helpful—he calls us back to the reformational cry of sola gratia—his chapter on “A Kingdom of Priests” is bewildering and off center. Other works by Horton contain beneficial analyses of contemporary trends that I have found useful. For example, Horton [...]

This article continues my brief review of Jeff Lasseigne’s Unlocking the Last Days. I’m not picking on Lasseigne. He’s not the only commentator to interpret Revelation in terms of what’s going on in our generation. Such an interpretive approach is pandemic in end-time speculative commentaries whose authors claim they interpret the most symbolic book of the Bible literally. Thirty-five years ago Ha [...]