Doctrinal Matters

The term "big bang" describes what many scientists believe about the beginning of the universe, i.e. that at some point in the past, all the matter in the universe was packed into a super-heated dense point that then exploded into a pattern of expansion and cooling that continues today.  This process eventually created all that is in the universe, from atoms to planets.  This cosmological model is the foremost model among scientists and the prevalent and exclusive model presented in science text books. photo courtesy of NASA Some Christians have accepted the theoretical big bang as fact.  They believe that God used the big bang to create. They seem to have the best of both worlds- they can remain in step with the prevailing secular view of cosmology and at the same time retain their belief in God as Creator.  Hugh Ross is an example of a Christian who espouses the belief that God used the big bang to create. Could God have created by using a big bang eve...

Today I read a great article on liberalism entitled "Air Conditioning Hell: How Liberalism Happens".  It was written by Albert Mohler and can be accessed here .  Dr. Mohler is well known for his role in helping bring the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) back from the brink of theological liberalism.  Since Mohler was and is still a key figure in the battle against the devastating effects of liberalism, he knows a thing or two about what makes Christian liberalism tick.  His article addresses the departure from a biblical view of hell by liberals and now even conservative evangelicals.  In discussing liberalism's unbiblical view of hell, Dr. Mohler identifies a pattern that can be observed that leads to a slide into theological liberalism concerning any doctrine. The article opens by speaking of the motivation behind liberalism.  Contrary to what one would suppose, liberalism is not motivated by anti-Bible sentiments or even a belief in the orthodoxy o...

For many years there has been a proposition made that some people are born gay and others born straight. This is a difficult argument to settle since it is almost impossible to prove true or false.  That is why I believe that it has been used so successfully by those who support homosexuality as a legitimate lifestyle.  If some people are born gay, then they are presumably not culpable for their homosexuality.  In fact, as they pursue their homosexuality and act upon it in relationship with another, they are only doing what God designed them to do.  Who can blame them for that?  If God designed some gay and some straight from birth, then homosexuality is just as legitimate as heterosexuality.  Indeed, if anyone is to blame, it is God Himself. My contention is that the debate over whether one is a born homosexual or not is irrelevant.  Suppose that it could be substantiated scientifically that there is indeed a "gay gene".  If, through genetic ...

I am a hospice chaplain.  This position provides me with the privilege of visiting with men and women during the last days of their lives. I pray for the opportunity to share the gospel with them and their family members. I try to be faithful to tell the lost that their only hope for salvation is to trust in Christ alone.  I rejoice with those who are Christians and are trusting in Christ as their Savior and Hope. Unfortunately, not everyone who claims to be a Christian has hope.  Not everyone who claims to trust Christ as their Redeemer has confidence of eternal life.  I recall visiting a patient in the hospital.  He was there because he had a fall that caused a massive brain bleed.  As the patient lay comatose, I visited at his bedside with his wife.  I knew this family from previous visits in their home.  They were from a Christian denomination that believes that a person is not saved unless he has been "filled with the Spirit with evidence...

The message of the Gospel is amazing.  It is like no other religious message in the world.  It is a message of hope, of freedom, of peace with God, of justification, of salvation from sin.  And it is a message in which God gets all the glory. Rejoice with me at the testimonies of these precious people who have been rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred to Christ's kingdom of light through faith in Him (Col. 1:13-14). For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  Romans 1:16 (NASB)

photo courtesy of www.freeimages.com Many modern Christian leaders, pastors, and theologians seem to struggle with understanding the first chapter of Genesis.  They offer various possible interpretations of the text.  Among the many interpretations of the creation story are the following suggestions: the day-age theory, the gap-theory, the progressive creation theory, the framework hypothesis, the cosmic temple theory, the theistic evolution theory, etc. Oddly, it seems the only interpretation of the creation account that is not taken seriously by many Christian leaders is the straightforward, plain understanding of the text.  What I mean is that all options seem to be on the table except for taking the text at face-value as speaking of six literal, twenty-four hour days of creation. Why does there seem to be so much confusion about what the Bible has to say about creation in Genesis? Is it because the text is ambiguous? Hardly.  Many of those who espouse int...

© Pictures of Rome courtesy of   www.rome.info Torture is a pretty serious charge.  Do you remember how the left, during the George W. Bush presidency, slandered our military and CIA by accusing them of torturing captives?  Well, they're at it again.  This time the charge is leveled against the Catholic church, and her supposed victims are abortion-seeking women. One may ask, By what heinous methods are these women being tortured?  Water-boarding?  Loud music blared in their eardrums?  Iron maidens or other medieval torture machinery?  The answer is none of the above.  Instead, the Vatican is guilty of employing a torture device so wicked, so sinister, so diabolically sadistic that none other than the United Nations Committee Against Torture has involved itself in a valiant effort to stop the Vatican from using it against future victims. Apparently, the UN won't sleep until it reaches its goal; a universal ban of the Catholic tort...