Defenders of Rep. Ilhan Omar Would Have Made Good Defense Witnesses at Nuremberg

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D., Ill.) defended Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) from charges of anti-Semitism by arguing she should receive some leeway because of her upbringing in Somalia. Her family moved to the United States in 1995 when she was 14 years old. This means that she has been in this country for nearly 25 years. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN that Rep. Omar’s controversial remarks about [...]

Are Some Pastors Segregating the Church from the World?

There are some Christians who take themselves out of the battle over worldviews by using the Bible for cover. They believe the Bible teaches that Christians should stay above the fray of cultural involvement. I’ve dealt with many of the arguments for this position in my book Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths. ((Gary DeMar, Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths: How Misreading the Bible Neutralizes Christians (P [...]

Ignorance of Socialism is No Excuse

Socialism is all the rage, but few people really know what it is and how it doesn’t work over the long haul. This is especially true of Millennials. “These days, if you hear people spouting the benefits of socialism, don’t assume that they’re talking about the socialism you probably loathe. They’re more likely talking about promoting big government — and more of it.” (The Hill) We already have big [...]

The Second Most Important Government

Diamonds worth millions of dollars can change hands based on trust. There are no contracts, lawyers, or signatures. All deals take place verbally. A person’s word is his bond. This trust is sealed with a handshake and the following words – “Good Luck and Blessing,” spoken in Hebrew. Trust is a form of self-government. There is no outside force or law that mandates that these transactions take plac [...]

Avoiding the new secular theocracy

How many times have you heard that religion and politics don’t mix? Don’t believe it. Religion is always mixed with politics. It’s impossible to separate religion from politics or God from any form of government. When the one and only God is rejected, another god takes His place. It’s that simple and basic. There are no exceptions and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. The most anti-God rul [...]

Liberals should stop trying to justify homosexuality with Jesus and the Creeds

Rachel Held Evans is a professing Christian who supports same-sex marriage because “Jesus never talked about it.” This is a frequent argument for supporters of same-sex marriage. She also states that the creeds don’t mention anything about homosexuality. Who is Rachel Held Evans? Rachel Held Evans is a New York Times best-selling author whose books include Faith Unraveled (2010), A Year of Biblica [...]

The alleged "biblical" values of Ocasio-Cortez's Democratic Socialism

The folks at Sojourners have been pushing socialism in the name of Jesus and the Bible for decades. Claiming that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s economic policies are “biblical” is the height of absurdity. She does not know anything about economics. Her claim that a $3 billion tax break can be spent is prima facie evidence of her ignorance. Here’s the latest incarnation of Democratic Socialism. The sa [...]

Stop using the Bible as an excuse to avoid politics

Does the Bible forbid Christians from being involved in politics? It would be a hard case to prove since there are numerous books of the Bible that are filled with politics—from Joshua, Judges, and 1 and 2 Samuel to 1 and 2 Kings and the Old Testament Prophets. King David is confronted by Nathan the Prophet (2 Sam. 12), Solomon is shown violating nearly every biblical admonition regarding kings th [...]

"Rapture" thinking and political paralysis

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is coming under fire for a speech he gave in 2015 while serving as a Congressman: Dangerous Christian extremist: Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is caught on video promoting the Rapture. Social media is on fire after a 2015 video has been rediscovered showing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussing the Rapture. In the video Pompeo expresses his opposition to [...]

Prophecy pundits say Trump's troop withdrawal leads to Armageddon

I’ve been listening to an interview that Brannon Howse had with pastor and author Andy Woods about his book The Middle East Meltdown. He, like so many prophecy writers today, believes Ezekiel 38 and 39 are about modern-day Russia and nations surrounding Israel in a war that will lead to the deaths of billions of people. For Howse and Woods, war is prophetically inevitable. Peace is impossible. Thi [...]

Of Christmas and Christmas Trees

Every year, Christmas gets a drubbing by some Christians. Here’s one example sent to American Vision: Deuteronomy 12:30 says that God hates these things, and we are not to inquire of them to do like-wise unto the Lord. King Ahaz did this very thing, and paid for it, trying to bring something from a pagan temple into God’s temple. It says that doing this is called, “evil in the sight of the Lord. [...]

The biblical origins of separation of Church and State

Pastor John MacArthur sat down for an interview with Ben Shapiro. I was glad to see this happen. MacArthur did a good job in presenting the gospel clearly and without compromise. Unfortunately, Shapiro, who is Jewish and very smart, failed to pick up on a big mistake made by MacArthur. (There were other mistakes, too. See Joel McDurmon’s article from yesterday.) Regarding the Old Testament, MacArt [...]

Is Jesus Coming Soon? A response to a critic

I received an email from an AV supporter that was sent to him by his sister-in-law. Since her criticisms are very stereotypical, they provide a good opportunity to address the most common misunderstandings. I will quote her throughout, followed by my responses. She begins: I read that book you gave me this morning. . . . He bases the whole book on the verse in Matthew that says ‘this generation wi [...]

More fake news on Bible prophecy and the "rapture"

According to a recent popular video on the rapture, “Evangelist Greg Laurie has suggested that a massive Jesus revival in America could lead to Christians being snatched from Earth, removing the U.S. from the End Times conflict.” But why couldn’t a massive Jesus revival in America instead lead to Christians changing America? In his interview with PureFlix, Laurie “recalled that one of the earmarks [...]

Should preachers address politics from the pulpit?

Several posts on Facebook are asking this question: Should pastors address politics from the pulpit? I don’t understand why this question keeps getting asked. If the Bible addresses politics (or anything else), then pastors must address politics and anything else the Bible addresses. It’s that simple. Joel McDurmon, President of American Vision, writes: [I]f it is true that pastors may not weigh i [...]

Our government makes us play with Monopoly money

The game of Monopoly debuted in 1935 during a time of financial recovery after a steep economic downturn called the Depression from which we’ve never really recovered since government intervention created the Depression and every economic downturn since. A similar game was developed by Elizabeth (Lizzie) J. Magie Phillips in 1903. The Landlord’s Game, as it was called, was self-published in 1906. [...]

Are Christians "confusing the Gospel with Christian nationalism"?

Many Christians refuse to get involved in politics for any number of reasons. Here are some of them: Jesus didn’t get involved in politics. God’s kingdom is not of this world. We’re to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. We’re living in the last days. We’re just to preach the gospel. Politics is not mentioned in the Great Commission. The Christian’s citizenship is in heaven. There’s a s [...]

The truth about the "good old days"

I once wrote about how earthquakes were not a sign of the last days and the soon coming of Christ. I received the usual pile of vitriolic email. Words like “stupid,” “lukewarm,” and “heretical” were thrown about. One response always stands out: “times keep waxing worse and worse!” The most interesting response came from a 62-year-old woman who believes in something called the “Good Old Days.” Here [...]

Two atheists walk into a bar. . . .

If there is no God, can there be morality? I’m not asking whether atheists are moral people and do moral things. They do, but by what unimpeachable and ultimate standard? An atheist might say that certain laws are good for the advancement of the species. But let’s not forget that as an evolved species (according to atheism), we got here “red in tooth and claw.” We evolved upward through violent me [...]

Why do prophecy teachers keep misleading us about Antichrist?

There is a long history of prophetic speculation. When I say a long history, I mean a l-o-n-g history. In addition to centuries of prophetic claims about the end, there is also a great deal of confusion about end-time themes. One of the most abused prophetic topics is the antichrist. There have been as many antichrist candidates as there are stars in the heavens. Well, not quite, but it seems that [...]