John Newton went to sea at the age of 11 and was forced to enlist on a British man-of-war seven years later. He was captured after deserting the intolerable conditions and exchanged to the crew of a slave ship. He began reading a book he found on board— Imitation of Christ—which began to sow the seeds of conversion. Newton eventually gave his life to Christ during a storm which threatened the ship [...]
It is pretty typical for people to look back with nostalgia on the “good old days” of their youth, or even some idealized time before they were born. These fond thoughts often overlook the negative aspects of the past however, the lack of modern technologies and conveniences, less advanced medical procedures, and, longer and harder work days. The book of Ecclesiastes indicates that the [...]
In order to understand the book of Revelation you have to read it against the backdrop of the Old Testament, and you also have to understand the subject matter and the timing as to when these events were to take place. The book of Revelation isn’t describing events in the distant future, it’s describing events leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Declaring [...]
Ripping a verse out of context in the book of Revelation is standard fare for a lot of Christians. They look at events in the world around us, then go to the Bible and pull out a prophecy that they can make fit and call it fulfillment of Bible prophecy. In order to accurately interpret the book of Revelation, you must know the rest of the Bible well, and most people lack this Bible knowledge. [...]
Gary receives a lot of emails, some with valid questions and theories, and some completely off base. One such email talks about images the emailer sees in the fault lines in the Gulf of Mexico that supposedly link with Bible prophecy. This is similar to people who see the Gospel in the stars or a secret code hidden in the Bible. [...]
I was asked the following question by a Facebook friend: “How do you argue against gay marriage when pro-gay marriage activists say that gay [sic] marriage is forbidden in the Old Testament, but so is [eating] shellfish. They try to say that along with gay marriage that other stuff like shellfish is also forbidden. How do we as Christians respond? Arguments like the “shellfish game” fill the inter [...]
Benedict Arnold;s treasonous acts against America during the War of Independence should not be viewed any less harshly, but his second wife, Peggy, probably was not the innocent woman she claimed to be. Peggy Arnold may have been providing secrets to the British even before her husband decided to become a turncoat. Socialite Peggy Shippen was 18 and from a wealthy Philadelphia family when she marr [...]
Gary reviews the parallels between the classic film The Magnificent Seven and today’s political arena. Politicians have a lot in common with the bandits in the movie, apart from the Western setting. Are there seven amongst modern men willing to face such villains? [...]
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. 2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. 3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. 4. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is go [...]
Dispensationalists say that there are no signs leading up to the rapture but there are signs leading up to the tribulation. Since the tribulation is supposed to occur right after the rapture, signs for the rapture would, by default, be signs for the tribulation as well. Throughout history, every major disaster has been touted as a sign of the end, in spite of the fact that we are still anticipatin [...]
Some years ago I was invited to speak to a political science class at Emory University located in Decatur, Georgia. The Christian Right was in the news at that time, and Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority was getting a lot of negative press. I was asked to shed some light on the controversy. The students were genuinely interested in the subject and asked some good questions. I remember one student in [...]
It’s only been recently that biblical law has been viewed as non-applicational to contemporary society, by non-Christians and Christians alike. The claim is made that there are so many laws in the Old Testament that would be impossible to apply today. Laws against murder and theft are viewed as self-evident that everyone agrees on. Certainly in principle this is mostly the case, but not always in [...]
The majority of dispensationalism teaches a pretribulational rapture that could happen at any time. If the rapture is an imminent event, then Israel becoming a nation again, or any particular sign, prior to a pretribulational rapture cannot be a prophetic sign. It’s no wonder that so many Christians are confused about Bible prophecy. [...]
New Haven, Connecticut, has removed the phrase “in the year of our Lord” from their high school diplomas, after someone complained. This change is intended to remove “religious bias” and avoid offense but is in conflict with the Constitution of Connecticut, not to mention the United States Constitution. This is just another example of the ignorant educators shaping our futu [...]
“Seniors at a New Haven, Conn., high school will not be graduating ‘in the year of our Lord’ this year–or any future years, according to the superintendent of schools.” Fox News reported this story. It’s similar to one that was reported a few months ago when a Muslim student at Trinity University in San Antonio petitioned to have the words removed from diplomas. To the university’s credit, officia [...]
The 2006 documentary “Screamers”, explores why genocide continues to occur in modern times, focusing on the 1915 massacre of more than a million Armenians. While the film purposes to raise awareness and prevent future genocide, it misses the mark in several key areas. The film does not mention that all of these instances of genocide were preceded by the lawful disarming of the populati [...]
We often hear that Christians should not impose their religion on others. Practice your Faith in the Church and in your home, but don’t mix it with politics we’re told. This view is contrary to the Bible and American history. Many supporters of the War for Independence were not Christians. To be sure, rationalist influence was very much present in the Continental Congress. But traditio [...]
School officials in Connecticut might want to take note of the fact that Constitution includes the phrase, “Done . . . in the Year of our Lord,” a reference to Jesus Christ. They might want to dismiss this historical fact by claiming that it was the documentary style of the day. How can this be if, as strict separationists claim, “our fathers endeavored to retire the gods from politics”? Did they [...]
Gary DeMar recently debated Jim Fletcher, author of It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) and director of Prophecy Matters, on whether or not modern Israel is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. In preparation for this debate, Gary wrote a new book titled 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed. This book lays out some of the most popular dispensational teachings and refutes them [...]
Frank Schaeffer, former evangelical and son of theologian Francis Schaeffer, has explored a wide spectrum of “christianity” in his lifetime. From his strong evangelical roots and active involvement in the “Religious Right” to more recently endorsing Barack Obama for President and writing for the Huffington Post. In his article, he proposes the eradication of fundamentalism, [...]
