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 [...]
In America’s current economic state, many propose cutting the budget. But when you get down to talking of cutting specific programs such as Medicare, Social Security or government education people start to balk. Most people are not willing to give up a government program that they benefit from, but ultimately we will have to give them up if we want to right the economic wrongs that have abou [...]
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 [...]
It’s been said that history repeats itself. Take, for example, the supposed freakish parallels between the assassinations of presidents Lincoln and Kennedy. Abraham Lincoln was first elected to Congress in 1846. John Kennedy followed exactly 100 years later. Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. After their deaths both were succeeded by [...]
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. [...]
You’ve heard that politics is dirty. Well, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The following article is about some strange goings on at Oregon State University. Three PhD students, all homeschooled by their father, may be denied their degree, not because of their work but because of their father’s political views. The following article was written by Art Robinson, the father of Jos [...]
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)) [...]
Christopher Columbus might have remained a footnote in history, if Washington Irving, the author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle,” had not published a three volume biography about him. Although Irving established Columbus’ rightful place in history, he also told a few fibs, the biggest one being that Columbus wanted to prove the earth was round. A [...]
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 [...]
Of the writing of commentaries on the book of Revelation there are many. In his Commenting and Commentaries, first published in 1876, C. H. Spurgeon remarks that “the works upon REVELATION are so extremely numerous . . . and the views so many, so different, and so speculative. . . . Numbers of these prophecyings [sic] have been disproved by the lapse of time, and others will in due season share th [...]
[caption id=“attachment_4173” align=“alignleft” width=“242” caption=“The Christian Faith”][/caption] Michael Horton is Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, California. He has written a number of popular books on a variety of subjects. His latest book is The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for P [...]
Nobel Prize winning Biochemist Christian de Duve, a professor emeritus at New York City’s Rockefeller University and 1974 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, warns that “natural selection has resulted in traits such as group selfishness being coded in our genes. These were useful to our ancestors under the conditions in which they lived, but have become noxious to us today.” [...]
