Is the Church Embracing Secularism?

As a child in Pentecostal church I often heard sermons warning against the dangers of worldliness. The words of John were seared into my Christian psyche:

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15-17).

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Where is God when the Innocents are Slaughtered?

Each Christmas we celebrate with lights, songs, and feasts. And, each Christmas our songs of praise are interrupted by the cries of those who suffer from violence, sickness, and death. This brings us to the story of the slaughter of the innocent boys in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16-18). It’s part the Christmas story that we don’t often tell, or sing about. The words of the prophet are haunting and familiar.

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When God Comes Down – 1st Sunday of Advent

Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at Your presence—To make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence! (Isaiah 64:1-2 NASB).

Advent is a word that speaks to the arrival, or appearing, of a notable person/event. Advent denotes hope, expectation, joy, and even fear. Christians celebrate a season of Advent as a time in between. The first Sunday of Advent is both historical and eschatological, that is, it remembers God’s appearances in history, and it anticipates the culmination of God’s kingdom in the future.

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Sin is a Theological Problem, Not a Political Issue

What is sin? That seems to be a rather straightforward question, but the very question will provoke a variety of responses. In recent decades many Christians have redefined sin in various socio-political categories – racism, patriarchy, whiteness, sexism. This reduces sin to a socio-political problem. When sin is reduced to socio-political issues it can be redefined by majority consent and definitions of sinfulness change with the political winds. If sin is indeed primarily a socio-political problem, then it is a human problem with a human remedy. If this is the case there is no place for God, except for the civil deity we construct for our political purposes.

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A Storm of Moral Confusion

The Church, the old ship of Zion, in the USA is sailing on stormy seas and caught up in a storm of moral confusion. Christians on the left and right are casting stones at each other. Christians on the left and right are blinded by the great logs of political pragmatism. Both sides see themselves as speaking prophetically – speaking truth to the corrupt powers. But, it seems to me, these bold false prophets are speaking with fiery tongues – the very world of iniquity (James 3:5).

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