A Cry For Our Nation

Many Christians upon hearing that Obama had become our new president, were shaken, fearful, depressed and discouraged. My prayer through this election is that we as a nation learn something and that we as Christians do as well.

For many years we've been watching our nation disintegrate as we allowed more and more evil into our country. With the passage of laws, homosexuality and abortion became legal. And with activist groups and others, we saw these evils become tolerated, then accepted, and now almost celebrated. Our country has grown more and more evil in other areas as well. Over 50% of our nation declares itself to be addicted to pornography. And these are just the ones who are willing to admit it. Our country has moved away from true christian values, and has instead chosen to satisfy the lusts of their hearts. As these things have taken place, the country has moved farther and farther to the left politically. We have become more accepting of liberal policies. As I look upon these developments that have taken place in the USA I can't help but think, "Do we deserve God's wrath? Do we deserve his judgment?" I think the answer is and overwhelming yes. My cry for this nation is that we fall to our knees in repentance. If God is going to judge this nation, we must learn what he wants to show us. We must repent of our sins and cry out for mercy.

As I ponder the state of the country I can't help but think, well, these in this country are non-Christians, we cannot expect them to act like Christians. Those who are carnal will act like they are carnal. Only through the blood of Jesus can these things be washed away. Only through the blood of Jesus saving individuals can these things change. So my mind turns to the church. What has happened to the church? Is the church even more guilty than the world? After all the world is only acting as the world always does, sinfully. In fact it is impossible for the world to act with any Christian virtue. So I look back at what the church has become over the past years.

What is the church supposed to be? It is supposed to be people who have been saved by Christ felowshipping together, growing together, reaching a lost world, and serving our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. What have we become? Nothing but a mirror image of the world. (Please note that I am not saying that every church is like this, but many are.) What do "so called Christians" do, they go to the same movies, they watch the same TV shows, they want the world's fun. Instead of being in the world but not of it, the church today is in the world and of the world. With the rise of the seeker sensitive movement we saw church become what it was not supposed to be. It was done for the world, and sadly it became like the world. As this movement took hold more and more false converts were "made" in the church. And it went downhill from there. Now in the church the divorce rate is just as high as in the world. The number of people who view pornography is just as high, It is even high among pastors. The church also contributed to this fall with the breakup of the family. Every member of thew family was split into different groups. The family didn't worship as a whole they worshiped separately. This also bled into the home as more and more families failed to worship and learn together at home. Fathers gave the responsibility of training to the Sunday school pastor and the youth "pastor". And these have failed miserably at teaching the children and training them. Church has become nothing but a fun fest for children, and even for adults. Even today the emergent church is taking on the postmodern mindset of the world and has embraced the world's philosophies wholeheartedly.

Even in this election many Christians for the first time voted for a pro-abortion candidate in John McCain. Even Christians have abandoned the principles that once guided our voting. We have placed our trust in politicians instead of God.

As I look back at the church's recent history I can't help but think that we have lost the most important part of our faith, THE GOSPEL. And as we lost sight of the gospel we, lost the battle. We became like the world and our nation collapsed. As we prepare for an Obama presidency, let us think of one thing, and one thing only, THE GOSPEL. Let us fight and strive for it, let it motivate us, let it encourage us, and let it form the very essence of who we are. Let us look to Christ for comfort, hope, and council. Let us trust in him, not only for our salvation, but for every part of our lives. Let us as a church get on our knees and repent of the evil we have done. Let us return to the principles of our Christian faith, as God judges this nation. And above all let us love the gospel, protect the gospel, and spread the gospel, because that is the ONLY thing that is going to save the church, our nation, and the world.





P.S. I am sorry we have not posted in a long time. Noah has not been able to post, and I have been extremely busy with school.

Sermon Video Clip - Voddie Baucham

I love this clip from Voddie Baucham about God's sovereignty in the world. It is very powerful.





By the way. I am sorry I have not posted in a while. I have been very busy. I will try to post my next post on "The Word Became Flesh" by next week.

The Word Became Flesh Part 1

John 1:1-5; 14: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

What is the greatest miracle? It is an intriguing question. When Jesus lived on this earth, He performed many miracles. From healing the of the sick to creating wine from water, Christ displayed His power and substantiated His claim that he was the Messiah. But what is the greatest miracle? Surprisingly it is not any of those performed by Jesus while He was on earth. No it is not even the new birth that he causes in sinners dead in trespasses of sins, as great a miracle that is. No, the miracle which surpasses all others is contained in this in this one phrase from John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh".


When I study the Bible, I like to understand the context of the verse, and the first five verses of the book of John provide an excellent background to this amazing event. Verses 1 and 2 state who Jesus is. He is the eternal Word, who is coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The apsotle John states explicitly that Jesus Christ is God and has existed forever. But this also makes it very clear that Jesus is a separate and distinct member of the trinity, thus dispelling any arguments from modalists, who claim that there is one God with three manifestations, not persons. In verse three John clearly states that Jesus is the creator of all things. Many people have the misunderstanding that it was God the Father who created the earth. In reality, Jesus Christ, our savior, was also our creator. This becomes extremely powerful when we understand verse 14. Just as a side issue, it is also very interesting that when man was created, the Old Testament makes it clear that it was the work of all three members of the trinity, Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

"In him was life". I love this phrase, because it absolutely demolishes the idea of evolution, that life can come from non-life. Clearly Jesus alone can clearly give life to anything, life can not, "just happen".

Now let's take a close look at verse 14. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,". This phrase states the greatest miracle that was ever accomplished in the history of time. Nothing else can compare to what is stated in that phrase. Of all the miracles that are recoded in the Bible God, in the person of Jesus Christ, became flesh and dwelt among us. That Jesus Christ, the eternal Word became flesh without losing any of his divinity is undoubtedly the most awesome event recorded in the Bible. And to think John describes it in one phrase, "The Word became flesh."

Serving God, Not Man

The Apostle Paul, in Galatians, penned the following in his letter to the Galatians: “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased man, I should not be the servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10) A simple question that is followed by a powerful answer, that Christians have honorable duty to serve God before any man. Triangulating Galatians 1:10 by taking a close look from three points of reference, namely, the Biblical view, how modern day Christians can apply the concept, and a personal illustration we will discover the lesson that lies behind this verse.

The nation of Israel had just escaped their four hundred arduous years of being slaves in Egypt. They had spent many months in the Sinai desert trudging through the broiling sand under a merciless sun. On the horizon, Canaan appeared as a dark silhouette of lush trees. A welcome sight after traveling through a bleak desert, the Promise Land lived up to its name. Moses, a wise leader, decided that it would be a good idea to send some spies so the Hebrew nation do not nonchalantly walk into someone’s backyard unprepared. Moses democratically picked one man from each of the twelve tribes to scout out the land before them and give a report of the land’s resources. After the twelve men completed their reconnaissance, they returned bringing in clusters of grapes so large it required two men to carry one cluster attached to a poll. They also brought stories of the land that flowed with milk and honey. Of course, the twelve men also informed the people that there were monstrous giants that made the Israelites look like grasshoppers. Ten men claimed that any attempt to take the land would result in a massacre. Caleb and Joshua countered by reminding everyone that God was on their side and that the giants would be conquered. Unfortunately, in an effort that placated men but not God, the majority ruled and all received the punishment of wandering in the desert for forty years. Illuminated by the story of the twelve spies, it appears absolutely essential for Christians, especially Christian leaders to strive to please the Almighty God of the Universe than the men of earth.

It is drastically important for a nation to follow God, especially if God represents the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of your government. Ananius and Sapphiras decided to please men with devastating consequences. Because many Christians engaged in selling various articles of wealth and donating them to the local church, Ananius and Sapphiras decided to sell some land, but they decided to skim the profits a little without telling anyone. The deception they displayed before the church and God resulted in instant deaths, a harrowing reminder of the effects that lying and catering to men bring upon someone. In today’s day and age, churches must strive to maintain a spirit of one accord. When half of the church decides to satisfy their own desires and aspirations while the other half hungers to follow God’s will, the church will fall. “And Jesus, knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” (Matthew 12:25) Modern day Christians must learn from their predecessors the importance of following God with all of the heart, mind, and soul. Although the resulting consequences rarely are as dire as those meted out to Ananius and Sapphiras, Christians must rise up to the standard laid out by Jesus and His Father.

All of the insight, inspiring Bible stories, and head knowledge of what you are supposed to do does not matter if the real life application never happens. Why train for something that will never happen? Over winter vacation, I received an assignment to enter the grocery store, select a tub of ice cream from an exacting, predetermined list contain on a piece of paper, purchase the items, and come home. Everything went according to plan until I began to fail at living up to the label society placed upon my peers and myself, Generation Multi-task. Despite the normally justified name, I absolutely could not walk, carry grocery bags, and place the change I received from the cashier into my pocket. The solution? Stop walking. For some reason, probably a God thing, I took the chance to count the money after I saw that there was ten-dollar bill where it wasn’t supposed to be. Checking the receipt I discovered that I should had only received eight dollars back when in reality, thirteen dollars lay in my hand. My conscience decided that I needed to return the money. Walking back into the store, a war raged inside my mind. Was it even possible to return the money because of the technology inside the cash register? If my conscience had not bothered me, my family would save five dollars, which would come to about a 30% savings or more. “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord; but a just weight is his delight.” (Proverbs 11:1) In this particular instance I would unscrupulously taking advantage of the store’s mistake, which would damage my witness. Upon the returning of the money, the worker was extremely grateful. Looking back, I am glad I decided to delight God rather than my inclinations of the flesh.

At this point, an important question comes to the surface, what does this all come down to? Not everyday does the possibility of getting thrown to the lions, selling property to donate the proceeds to a church, or making an important foreign policy decision arises. Some of those things will never happen in some people’s life, but everyone faces little decisions where the choice to please God or to please peers appears with clear distinction. God cares about the seemingly small choices just as He cares about life or nation changing decisions. Christians must stand firmly resolved that they will please God before they attempt to please man.

A Generation For Truth Podcast Episode 5

In this episode we discuss the ACE of Rick Warren's PEACE plan.

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PEACE Plan: The Final Verdict

On A Generation for Truth we have discussed and critiqued Rick Warren's PEACE Plan over the past few weeks. Now comes the time for a summarizing opinion, the final verdict if you will. My personal opinion, simply boils down to that the PEACE Plan misses the mark. Listen to Rick Warren's words regarding his Plan, "The first Reformation was about belief; this one's going to be about behavior." Falling back on my debate training and instincts I would now like to show the advantages and disadvantages of enacting the PEACE Plan.

Observation 1: Definitions

Philosophy of the PEACE Plan: Listen to Rick Warren's words regarding his Plan, "The first Reformation was about belief; this one's going to be about behavior." I would like to comment first by saying that Christians have been trying to influence Godly behavior since before the 1^st century.

PEACE Plan:

Promote Reconciliation

Equip servant leaders

Assist the poor

Care for the sick

Educate the next generation

Observation 2: Harms of the Status Quo

Rick Warren calls these the five "giant problems" that exist today.

Spiritual Emptiness (Aaron finds a major problem with the word "empty." I have a tendency to feel that they just messed up a little bit and should have used the phrase "Spiritual Darkness.")

Self-serving Leadership (Rick Warren hobnobs with some leaders that feel to belong in this category, however, if Warren attempts to truly make some of these socialistic thinkers to truly think about the people they claim to serve, then great.)

Extreme Poverty (As someone who enjoys finding historical patterns and cycles, extreme poverty occurs often when dictatorships arise. God creates both the wealthy and the poor, of those who receive much, much is expected. Also, if someone will not work, neither shall he eat.)

Pandemic Diseases (Diseases are a direct consequence of sin and many sins cause illness. Christians have established thousands of hospitals, clinics and other source of medical care across globe.)

Educate the Next Generation (What type of education are we talking about? A God centered philosophy or man centered ideologies?)

Observation 3: Advantages of the PEACE Plan

First Christians will address these problems and will be living witnesses for Christ although that is not the primary objective (see main disadvantage for further discussion). My church headed up ShareFest in our area and I believe had a positive impact on our community, why not reach out to the whole world if you can?

Observation 4: Disadvantages of the PEACE Plan

If Rick Warren had not made his "2nd Reformation" claim and instead stated that he believed that the church should help people in need, it would be an extremely great plan. But he focuses on the deed as opposed to doctrine. God judges the heart, not the outward appearance. Groups like Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child provide aid and supplies to countries around the world and the Gospel. The PEACE Plan could do this too.

The Bottom Line: "The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him." Proverbs 18:17

Will you be admitted into Heaven?

Only those not blotted from the Lamb's Book of Life are "Authorized  Personnel."

From time to time we are going to be posting video clips from sermons. This is from one of my favorite speakers, Paul Washer. This is a great clip which speaks about true conversion.

A Generation For Truth Podcast Episode 4

In this episode we discuss Rick Warren and his PEACE plan Pt. 1






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The Clipboard: Brian Mclaren's Preferred Candidate

Brian Mclaren wants everything to change. It appears he will put his vote where his mouth is. In a post on his blog, Brian Mclaren said the following, "So, inaccuracies happen. To say I was sent by Senator Obama wasn't accurate. To say I hope he will be our next president rather than Senator McCain is accurate." Mclaren says he will be "outspoken" on his opinions of this election and he "enthusiasticly supports the Matthew 25 Network which is supporting Senator Obama." Not as a pastor but a a responsible private citizen. Define "responsible." Senator Obama supports abortion and high taxes. Do you call that responsible? Not from a Scriptural basis.

Taxes: If you read 1 Kings 12, you will discover that a wise king will not burden his people with gratutious taxes. When politicians institute tax systems that are designed to imitate Robin Hood (Take from the rich, give to the poor), they commit "legal plunder."

Abortion: This issue clearly violates the 6th commandment, "Thou shall not kill." As the social gospel attempts to save the world, eliminate global warming, and other social issues, thousands of defenseless children are being slaughtered in an ongoing massacre. The Pro-Life* issue is incredibly huge (physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.) so I will not address this topic in detail right now.

Bottom Line: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan." (Proverbs 29: 2)

*A Generation for Truth defines Pro-Life as being against abortion, human cloning, and embryonic stem cell research. Some groups define the Pro-Life movement as also opposing the death penalty.

PEACE Part 2: Equip Servant Leaders

Rick Warren desires to train servant leaders to fill multiple areas of authority. On it's face, this area of the PEACE plan apears valid. Until you examine the leaders that Rick Warren deals with. He invited Hillary Clinton to attend a summit, where video messages from John Edwards and Barack Obama also were displayed.

On a trip to visit Bashar Assad, Warren discussed how everyone gets along, in regards to Christians and Muslims. An anti-semintic country and persecutor.

If these are the kind of leaders that Rick Warren appreciates, what will happen when he wants to train thousands ofleaders to control his one billion man army of "peace?"

If you go to World Net Daily , you can learn a lot about Rick Warren's diplomatic escapades.

The problem that the need for servant leaders is caused by? Self-serving, corrupt leaders. Rick Warren believes he can solve this problem. Maybe his political friends can help by showing a good example. For example, warren already has dissension in the ranks, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama spent the last few months attacking each other trying to win the Democratic nomination.

Bottom Line: "And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:3-5)

PEACE, Really? Part 1

Rick Warren has become one of the most influential pastor’s in America. He has even been termed “America’s Pastor”. But what does he really teach? And most importantly, is he biblical?
When Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life” burst on to the Christian scene, it rocked the world. It almost instantly became the New York Times number 1 national bestseller. But what was he teaching and was it biblical? And should we follow it. Although we may review the actual book at some point we are not here to discuss it now. However, I will say that his book was very seeker sensitive and contained a very unbiblical gospel. In recent days, Rick Warren become more and more emergent as the movement has become more prevalent.


Recently Rick Warren has unveiled a new plan through which he wishes to begin a new reformation throughout the world. It is called, The PEACE plan. PEACE is an acronym for which each letter stands for a solution to what he sees as the five big problems in the world. Unfortunately what he sees as the big problems of the world don’t deal with the root issue at play in the world, sin. Since he does give five problems and five solutions I am only going to deal with two in this post.


The first big problem that Rick Warren sees in the world is Spiritual Emptiness. This term is completely overused and it really doesn’t describe the true problem. Humans do not have a problem with “spiritual emptiness” but they have sin problem. We don’t need some emptiness in our hearts filled; we need our hearts, which are filthy, wretched, and foul, cleansed and renewed by God who can only do this through our repentance and faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.


Warren’s solution to this problem is the first letter of peace: Promote Reconciliation. Although this phrase is not inherently wrong, but we need to look at what Warren means by Promote Reconciliation. On his website he makes it abundantly clear that he is referring mainly to reconciliation between men. This however is not the main issue which needs to be dealt with. The true need of reconciliation is between God and man. This is accomplished only through Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Once the reconciliation between man and God is accomplished the minor issue of men to men reconciliation will take care of itself.



Bottom Line: Ephesians 2:16 “and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Note from Noah:

An important facet to discuss when addressing the need for reconciliation exists in the fact that different people will attain different positions in life. Life is not "fair" normally when man tries to be fair, major issues arise. Communism/Socialism is a big attempt that parades under the façade of fairness, but in reality represents a totally unjust system. While it is true that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America) and that "The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all." (Proverbs 22:2) The key to this view that is that God gives and takes away. In the book of Proverbs we find numerous examples of the importance of diligence and a good work ethic. "But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:4-6) This passage of prophecy from Isaiah depicts a time of true, complete reconciliation, a kind that on Jesus can bring, not man.

The Clipboard: Lessons from Skiing

Last week I had the privilege of visiting a friend's grandma's lake house. Almost every morning we would take a morning water skiing/wake boarding run. Why did we sacrifice sleep and the chance of getting a complete breakfast? The "glassy" water which you glide smoothly across once you cut out of the boat's wake. Once other boats get onto the lake the water begins to get choppy and unpleasant to some.

One time our boat plowed through the wake of another boat sending a short series of waves which I had to go over. They family was surprised I was able to calmly ski over the obstacles like they barely existed. I realized that by learning to water ski and almost exclusively water skiing on the Ohio river, I had naturally learned to handle the wakes of boats and even barges! Because I had been inserted or literally dragged into rough water from the beginning my performance level "accidentally" is higher than normal.

On the other side of the spectrum, snow skiing has provided me with a slightly different experience. When I began snow skiing, the people I skied with were very cautious and safety minded and every time we hit the slopes we would slowly warm ourselves up on the green slopes. However, a few years later I started skiing with people who had experience out west. The combination of being in an group of athletic, more risk-taking guys I was forced to bump up my skills and level of courage. While other groups enjoyed the opportunity to socialize and talk while other people in their group were coming down the mountain, we were striving slide over the maximum amount snow in a day.

Home schooling instincts kicking in. What lessons can I glean from my experience and apply to my life? First, if we are placed in a tough situation realize the advantages down the road, such as being able to outrun, outwit, outlast your opponents and/or friends. Whether the "rough water" is represented as a difficult piano piece, a "boring" book, or difficult physical activity, persevere through it with determination. Secondly, sometime we need someone to encourage us to "kick it up a notch." For example, if you start running for exercise, find someone who can run farther and faster than you can.


The Bottom Line: Get into rough waters* and, if needed, acquire someone who can spur you on in pursuing your quest.



*A Generation for Truth, it's authors, and/or affiliates disclaim any impacts, injuries ( minor, major, silly and/or serious), accidents, stress, and/or death of either mental physical, and/or spiritual implications resulting from taking the advice provided in this article. Any actions you take after reading this article are to be performed at your own risk. Also, success is not guaranteed. A Generation for Truth, it's authors, and/or affiliates disclaim any loss of self-esteem resulting from reading the aforesaid sentence.

Moral Absolutes

Moral absolutes vs. no absolutes. Depending on your background a battle summarized as, Decarte vs. Nietche, Western thought vs. Eastern thought, and God and His legions of angels vs. Lucifer and his horde of demons. I would like to address the existence moral absolutes by examining the fact by the three ways we can know truth, experience, reason (or logic), and revelation. Because of the advances of post-modernism and people desiring to do whatever they want, many people believe that my generation will provide the soldiers in a final stand, the last battle, or epilogue of the war for truth. I feel a need to reach out to my peers and equip them to face the conflicts that will arise in their classrooms, work places, and, unfortunately, their churches.

Experience:
Doubting Thomas example. Post-modern people sometimes feel that you can dictate your own truth and what is wrong to you can be right to me. For instance, I could say that a tennis ball is bright orange, but Aaron could say that the tennis ball is yellow. The law of non-contradiction says that we cannot both be right, however, some people would say that we can both be right. By using our five senses we can discern truth. In the case of Thomas the disciple, upon seeing Christ he wanted physical evidence, he wanted confirmation.

“Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”” (John 20: 24-27)

Reasoning:
Logically we can deduce that absolutes exist. To begin with, if you say that there are no absolutes, you have just stated an absolute. However, because logic resides in a mental state, many people disregard it’s validity, even Christians. Why? For Christians, reasoning alone allows the opportunity to rationalize any action or behavior. Secular minded people do not like logic because it requires people to systematically through an idea and when people carefully think through an issue sometimes they figure out how foolish an idea really is, i.e. global warming. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2)

Revelation:
Revelation provides the most accurate and infallible source of truth. “Your word is truth.” (John 17:17b) However, it requires faith to be considered credible. Currently, the Bible exists as the most readily available ways of obtaining revelation since the Bible is the inspired Word of God. It also provides truth that will always over rule experience and reason if it comes to a fight over who’s right. Using the Bible as the final word on any matter is incredibly vital no matter who and where you are in the world.

Is the Emergent Church post-modern? Do they deny absolutes? As with all issues each promoter or church requires a case by case examination. For instance, Brian Mclaren, claims that he is not post-modern because the meaning of post-modern has been simplified too much. The main goal of this article focuses on showing proof of absolutes. The best evidence of moral absolutes lies in the fact that God always keeps His promises.

Bottom Line: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. (Genesis 17:7)

A Generation For Truth Podcast Episode 3

In this episode we discuss the Kingdom Dominion Theology of the EC.

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The Clipboard: Brain Mclaren's Gospel

I was at the library the other day and on a whim, I searched for books by Brian Mclaren. Normally, when I am about to critique someone or their ideas I like to read their ideas in context before I throw my words out of my mouth and a foot enters the void. I looked at The Secret Message of Jesus and I am still working on Everything Must Change, but these books explain why Mr. Mclaren advocates a social gospel. In his introduction he says that there are three kinds of people who read his books, People who are...

1. Converts to his teachings.



2. Curious about his teaching.



3. Critics of his teachings

I would place my self in between 2 & 3. Why? I am interested in what he has to say, but I am critical of his ideas. Like a well trained debater he has pre-empted his opposition and is very kind to them throughout the entire book. Initially, he used to believe in the standard gospel, but was influenced by a friend to adopt a social gospel/kingdom dominion viewpoint.
Why is the message of Jesus a "secret?" Mainly because Jesus speaks in parables and metaphors. Such as "born again" (John 3:1-8) and "living water" (John 4: 10-15). But that is a just a small point compared to why Mclaren believes in a social gospel/kingdom dominion.

In Chapter 11: The Open Secret, Mclaren relates to a significant conversation at a restaurant. During this lunch, Brian Mclaren was asked what he believed the gospel to be by a friend who claimed that most people had the gospel wrong. He replied by quoting Paul about justification, salvation, and Christ dying for our sins. Mr. Mclaren then asks his friend what he believed the gospel to be, expecting heresy. His friend answered with,"The kingdom of God is at hand. That was Jesus' message. Don't you think we should let Jesus tell us what the gospel is?"

"Some would say that we have exchanged "Christianity" for "Paulinity." Christianity was about the kingdom of God coming to earth for everyone, they would say. Paulinity is about about a select few escaping earth and going to heaven after they die. (The Secret Message of Jesus, pg. 91)"

He goes on to say later in the chapter:

"But the question remains: if Paul doesn't use the exact same language with the similar frequency, how does he translate Jesus' message into his own, new situation?(The Secret Message of Jesus, pg. 95)"

Aaron covered a lot of the issues regarding kingdom dominion in his post on Thursday so I will not expound on the in depth issues so as not to bore you with redundancy. However, one issue begs of discussion. Paulinity vs. Christianity. In II Timothy 3: 16-17 it says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." The key phrase is that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God." Does it say that only certain parts of the Canon represent truth? No, the entire Bible is completely infallible.

For a detailed review, which covers a lot of Mclaren's ideas that are presented in The Secret Message of Jesus, click here.

The Bottom Line: "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14: 7)

Kingdom Dominion Theology

The word kingdom in the New Testament is written over seventy times. Most of those uses are describing "The Kingdom of God" or "The Kingdom of Christ". Obviously this concept is an important doctrine in the Bible. But how does God describe his kingdom? How is it brought into being and what is our role in the Kingdom? Unfortunately, what the emergents would have us believe is false.



As we discussed in our last podcast a major portion of the emergent's doctrine is the use of the social gospel. Believing that by doing good, helping the poor, and fighting aids you are spreading the gospel, has influenced much of what their ministries are all about. However this idea has also influenced another big part of their ministries, Kingdom Dominion Theology. Kingdom Dominion Theology is the doctrine whereby we, human beings, bring God's kingdom here to this earth. There are many different groups who offer various ways to cause this, but the method the EC promotes is the social gospel.



Clearly the doctrine of Kingdom Dominion is contrary to scripture. The entire book of Revelation is the prophetic telling of Christ's coming and establishing his own kingdom. John 18:36 says, Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” When Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world he did not mean that his kingdom would never be a part of this earth. He merely meant that for right now his kingdom is not on this earth. But why is that? God's kingdom and our world are two completely different places. One is a sin cursed fallen world where Satan is the prince of the power of the air. The other is a holy unblemished realm where Christ is the king. When saying that we must bring the kingdom to this earth, the EC is saying that we must make the world a better place. This however cannot be accomplished. We as sinful fallen human beings cannot bring this world to the perfection it once was. The book of Revelation is the account of Christ destroying the earth by fire in order to create a new heaven and new earth which will be completely without sin and death.



A major reason many of the EC leaders believe that we must bring this kingdom to the earth, is that they have a faulty understanding of heaven. Many have adopted the mindset that heaven is not a place; it is a state of mind. in doing this they completely disregard John 14:2-3 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. By diminishing the idea of heaven they completely demolish the faith. Like Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Paul is saying here that if Christ didn't rise from the dead, then there will be no Resurrection and our faith is in vain.



Many of the emergents will point to what we call the Lord's prayer which states, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, the kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." They will say, "see, we should be praying for his kingdom to come and for his will to be done on earth". In reality all this verse is saying is that we are to pray that Jesus will bring his kingdom, not for us to bring it for him.



Bottom line: 1 Corinthians 15:24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

A Generation For Truth Podcast Episode 2

Today we are talking about the social gospel and how the Emergents have replaced the true gospel with this heresy.

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The Social Gospel

"Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary" - Francis of Assisi. This quote is a source of controversy, mainly over whether he actually said this or not. However, in this article I am not going to be dealing with the what Francis of Assisi did or did not say, but rather the idea promoted in the alleged quote. The Emergent Church promotes the "social gospel." Aaron will address "kingdom dominion" which deals with social gospel as well. As a debater, I like to define my terms:

Social gospel - That the gospel is ending poverty, solving AIDs, and helping out people is preaching the gospel. This philosophy entails thinking that Jesus dying for our sins and the Ten Commandments are secondary to to "helping" people.

The key word is social. As in socialism. When the social gospel began to gain momentum, many of the people behind the social gospel would have also been considered progressivists . These people observed poverty brought on by evil capitalists who owned factories and mines. So they promoted big government, labor rights, and socialistic ideas like a welfare state. Before we go any farther, I want to make it clear that I do not relish the idea of having eight-year olds working in coal mines and that some of the factory owners took advantage of their workers. On the other hand, teenagers, the reason why you cannot get a job till you are fifteen or sixteen is because of these people who instituted child labor laws. The free market represents the best economic model and the more the government messes with it, the more off kilter it gets. FDR's New Deal legislation and many other socialistic government programs have created a major bill for myself, you, and your decedents. And for those of who do not enjoy school and learning, the social gospel people/progressivists pushed for more enforced school attendance. All of these measures were an effort to improve the moral lives of fellow citizens.

Many people claim that environment and wealth dictates one's moral standing. They are absolutely wrong. If money plus nice neighborhoods equal strong moral values, what happened in Hollywood? Every moment you turn around, some celebrity is in rehab or court. If you live in Cincinnati, you lost the majority of your pro football team to low moral standards, even though these guys get paid a ton and can live in a good neighborhood in they wanted to. No, morals begin and end with someone taking a personal stand and deciding that they will choose the path of truth.

The Emergent Church takes the alleged Francis of Assisi quote quite literally, they feel that saving the world is all that is necessary for evangelism. But we are commanded to preach the gospel, not promote energy efficient lightbulbs in hope that people will desire God. Think about it, if I drive a hybrid, do you think my friends will say something like, "Noah, you drive a hybrid and you try to save the world. What motivates you to do this? I want the passion that is with in you too." I highly doubt that, although I wouldn't mind the great gas mileage. (By the way, I do not own a hybrid.)

I do not want to discourage people from living a life of service and high moral standards, but rather the opposite. Live a life that is pleasing to God, one of integrity, humility, and love. For instance, during the summer my church is in charge of a community service coalition. Churches throughout the area join together to volunteer and serve the community, from painting buildings, running a completely free car wash, and gratis yard sale. But our church firmly believes in preaching the true gospel as well. Help out your community, but do not rely on your service work alone to spread the gospel.

The Bottom Line: "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." - II Corinthians 11: 13-15

A Generation for Truth Podcast Episode 1

Here is the first episode of our podcast. In this episode we give an overview of the emergent church and then discuss contextualization. This is my first attempt at a podcast so the editing might be a little choppy. Also some of the quality is a little bad on Noah's end.








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Podcast Schedule

This is a rough schedule for our upcoming podcasts.



Podcast #1 We will be giving an overview of the emergent church, then going into contextualization. Hopefully I'll have that out by next Tuesday.



Podcast #2 We will be discussing the social gospel and how it has influenced the emergent church.



Podcast #3 We will talk about the emergents idea of bringing the kingdom to this earth, or Kingdom Dominion Theology.

Contextualization, Why It Is Wrong

Contextualization. What does it mean? Where did the idea come from? Should we use it? Until about forty years ago, the word "contextualize" merely meant "To study something in its own context." However, since that time, a new meaning has arisen. It was transformed into portraying something in the context of the audience you were speaking to. Unfortunately, this meant adopting the world's standard and culture to try to get a point across.



Regrettably the Emergent Church has adopted this definition of Contextualization, and has used it to promote their ideas. And what culture have they decided to mimic? The postmodern mindset that many of today's young people are accepting. The EC has embraced the main teaching of postmodernism, Truth is Relative and no one can be certain of it, and has applied it to the Bible. Many of the emergent leaders have rejected that ultimate and absolute Truth can be found in the Bible, and instead they say they want to "have a conversation" about biblical truths and basically reconstruct everything that that Bible teaches. Emergents such as Rob Bell have begun using terms like Narrative Theology which he describes by saying, "We believe the Bible to be the voices of many who have come before us, inspired by God to pass along their poems, stories, accounts, and letters of response and relationship with each other and the living God." What he has done is reduced the Bible to mere stories which God inspired people to write. Bell has completely removed God as the author and believes that, "discovering the Bible as a human product, rather than divine fiat. ... The Bible is still in the center for us, but it’s a different kind of center. We want to embrace mystery, rather than conquer it".




In his new book, "Everything Must Change" Brian Maclaren, another emergent leader, states that we must change everything that we do to reach the world. But we must remember that words do have meaning, so what is entailed in the words "everything must change"? Justification. Must the central doctrine of justification change? How about the doctrine off Christ's imputed righteousness? Must that change as well? Regrettably much of what Brian Maclaren and other emergent leaders say does change these fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. And sadly many of today's youth are being drawn into what these teachers have to say. Noah and I will discuss these changes when we talk about the social gospel in our posts next week and in our second podcast.



But many emergents will say that Paul used contextualization to preach the gospel to the Greeks on Mars Hill, and that is a fair point, one that must be addressed. In order to reach some with the gospel, you must "contextualize" to some extent. If you want to reach Russians, speak Russian. If you want to reach the Chinese, speak Chinese. You may even have to speak some of the phrases that people recognize (but not swearing or blasphemy as some emergent leaders are prone to do). Paul did exercise this to an extent. Yet the emergents will take this simple and appropriate use of "contextualization" and twist it to mean what they want it to. They have adopted the cultures ideas and philosophies, forced them into the Bible, and then used these new doctrines to connect with an unsaved world. And the world is buying it. Because sinful fallen man sees these ideas in the church, and cool relevant pastors who can relate to them, then then accept what these so called pastors are saying. All the while the EC would have us believe that their approach is biblical.



Bottom Line: 1 John 2:15 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

The Emergent Church Overview

A new perspective on the church has revealed itself to the world. This new movement is known as the "Emergent/Emerging Church" (Occasionally, Aaron and I will refer to it as the EC). Promoting a "a church for people who don't like church" mentality. Using espresso and talented praise teams to bring in the masses, while simultaneously watering down the Word of God to "tickle" the ears of the audience. The Emergent Church is attempting to deconstruct the traditional church and reshape the church in order to reach a anti-Christian world. According to John Macarthur, by eliminating the unpopular morals and systematic theology of our forefathers, the Emergent Church undermines the charge and duty of the church.
"I believe the church has one function, and that is to guard the truth, to proclaim the truth and to live the truth. So you take the Word of God, you teach it, you proclaim it, you protect it, you defend it, and you live it, and that’s a church. The Word of God rightly divided, rightly understood." - John Macarthur



A Generation for Truth will be addressing the topic of the Emergent Church in a series of podcasts and articles. So this post is going to be in a "Big Picture" as opposed to the "Little Picture" opinions that will be coming later.




As you can guess, truth is pretty important to us at A Generation for Truth. As I mentioned before they are watering down the doctrine in clear contrast to Paul's writings in II Timothy 4:3, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." Aaron will be covering the "contextualization" of the Emergent Church in depth, so I want to get into how their "marketing" strategy strongly grabs teens or college students.



Some people feel that you need to run a church like a business, and to some degree you do. However, if the church gets caught up with having the biggest church and attendance, then the church really needs to change it's focus. There is nothing wrong with a large building and a lot of people in your church, just do not get depressed if your church is small. The most important objective of a church lies in having "salty" salt (Christians) in your salt shaker(church). "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." - Matthew 5:13. I feel that as long as churches can continue to produce disciples that are committed to living out the Word and truly seek after God that your church can be as big as you want it to. However, when a church gets rid of solid doctrine because it makes people feel guilty or the do not understand the deep stuff, just so attendance numbers go up. With the big self esteem movement that most of our peers have grown up in, a pastor telling everyone how desperately wicked, immoral, and destitute they are before God does not attract a lot of churchgoers. When some guy (or even a lady) gets up in a pair of jeans and talks about how Christianity is all about love, peace, and how everyone is special, people like that. Really, who doesn't like it when people say good things about you? And to some degree Christianity does involve love and peace, but our God is also one of justice, jealousy, and wrath. Bet you haven't heard that message in a long time!


The Bottom Line: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." - Romans 12:2

Truth, What We're All About

Truth. Is there truth? Where did it come from? Is it important? Why? Many people don't understand or don't care what truth is or why we need it. Many try to define their own truth. Some people do this by denial, saying there is no truth. Others believe that what is true to them might not be true to you. Some come close to achieving truth by considering only what they can taste, touch, hear, and see as being the only truth that exists. But that still begs the question, "What is Truth?"

Our Vision:

Ultimate truth can only be found in the Bible. Those ideas that were presented above are either inconsistent or eliminate sources of truth. Unfortunately many in this generation are turning from God's Truth and adopting these philosophies. Our desire at A Generation for Truth is that you will thirst and hunger for this incorruptible source containing the answers to all of life's greatest questions. We want you to have a fiery passion for what God's word has to say about everything that applies to your life. We concur with Paul when he states that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." - II Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV). Through the divine inspiration of God, the Bible exists as the most accurate, authoritative textbook and guide to life.

Who we are:

Just like you! This site is run by teenagers and for teenagers. We at A Generation for Truth will always attempt to integrate the highest level of clarity and integrity in our posts and podcasts in a way that connects with our peers. As with any news source you probably want to know where we're coming from. Both of us have been home schooled, are conservatives, and strongly support Biblical theology, primarily the doctrines promoted during the Reformation. We strongly believe in a literal six day Creation of the world. As stated before we believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible Word of God.