ChristianWorldview.com Daily

The Most Important Thing about the Election!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:44:00 +0000

This video is from 2008 but is just as relevant today.

“Is Everything Sad Going to Come Untrue?”

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Great essay by Michael Kruger about Tolkien's eschatology. It starts out:
Everyone has an eschatology. The believer, the atheist, the agnostic, the Hindu—everyone has to give an account for how evil is going to be dealt with. The question isn’t whether people have an eschatology, but whether it is a compelling and coherent eschatology...

Here's the paragraph where Kruger gets his title:
This sentiment is best captured by one of Sam’s statements, which is one of my favorite in the entire story. After the ring is destroyed at Mount Doom, Sam wakes up from his sleep surprised he is alive and surprised to see Gandalf. Then he says, “Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?” This statement is quite profound because it is different than asking whether good things are going to come true.

Read the rest of this article here:
“Is Everything Sad Going to Come Untrue?”

German judges rule parents can be brought to court for circumcising children | The Times of Israel

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:58:00 +0000

German judges rule parents can be brought to court for circumcising children | The Times of Israel

The Reason there are no blacksmiths on Blacksmith Street

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:55:00 +0000

Several interesting articles about capitalism and free market.

First, one on how Vietnam embraced economic liberty and capitalism.

A Newsweek story with the audacious subtitle "How Free is Too Free?" Is this gonna be the narrative in the Western press now that Vietnam has embraced the free-market, poor Vietnam, if they only knew what they were missing?

This one is also interesting
"When more than one hundred types of business licenses were abolished in 2000, more than 10,000 new companies were registered within months."

Collision: Christopher Hitchens vs Douglas Wilson

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:51:00 +0000

Check out this well-edited series of debates (available on DVD at Amazon)

Defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:26:00 +0000

Two First Amendment stories in the news this week. Both show how the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are being twisted to mean the very reverse of their intent. Liberals beware: your rights are being chipped away too.

When Christine O'Donnell questioned the constitutionality of the separation of Church & State she was mocked by the law students in the audience and liberal media. Now she says she was only pointing out that the phrase was not in the constitution. But the First Amendment expressly forbids the United States Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion. The intention was to prevent the newly formed Congress (I believe by inference the judicial and executive branches too) from hindering the free practice and expression of religion. The "establishment clause" explicitly says"Congress shall not." The establishment clause has been applied to all government bodies at all levels: federal, state, county, and city thereby reversing its intended meaning. When liberal federal judges interpret "the US Congress shall not" as "No government may" they are doing the very thing the Bill of Rights was guarding against: federal restrictions on liberties.

According to the First Amendment, a federal judge in Washington has no right to tell a High School teacher a thousands of miles away in a Apple Pie-ville Indiana what she can or cannot say about God. This applies whether she is an atheist or a Mormon. Of course her local school board will have a lot to say about what she teaches. They have every right to do that. Again, "Congress shall make no law ...."

This brings me to my main point. I believe that Congress broke the First Amendment when they passed The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. This created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting which has been funded by Congressional appropriations since. According to the CPB website the 2010 Federal appropriation is $420 million! http://www.cpb.org/aboutcpb/financials/appropriation/history.html

I have watched PBS and listened to NPR most of my life. KETV was my favorite channel in rural east Kentucky: shows like Mr. Rogers, Austin City Limits and Nova. I've enjoyed watching American Experience and the Ken Burns documentaries, listening to Fresh Air, Prairie Home Companion and many, many other shows. But if "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press" then the CPB needs to be defunded. CPB funded programing endoctrinates school children through countless daily doses of one-sided journalism, pantheism, statism, moral relativism, native american religion, and attacks on religious and political views that editors and producers disagree with. The incident with Juan Williams is only a front page example of what everyone already knows: NPR & PBS are outlets for left-wing propaganda.

NPR knows this is true. PBS knows this is true. The American people, both liberal and conservative know that this is true. No one is surprised that George Soros is giving NPR a $1 million grant to hire more journalists.

I am hoping and praying that Congress will reverse its mistake and stop spending tax payer money for partisan programming.

The Story

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:26:00 +0000

Thomas Sowell confronting barefaced barbarity

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:17:00 +0000

Here's a piece of a commentary by Thomas Sowell on the West confronting terrorism:

Britain's release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi-- the Libyan terrorist whose bomb blew up a plane over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 270 people-- is galling enough in itself. But it is even more profoundly troubling as a sign of a larger mood that has been growing in the Western democracies in our time. In ways large and small, domestically and internationally, the West is surrendering on the installment plan to Islamic extremists.

The late Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn put his finger on the problem when he said: "The timid civilized world has found nothing with which to oppose the onslaught of a sudden revival of barefaced barbarity, other than concessions and smiles." He wrote this long before Barack Obama became President of the United States. But this administration epitomizes the "concessions and smiles" approach to countries that are our implacable enemies.

"The Purpose Driven Church" is the marginalized church?

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:30:00 +0000

In this Breakpoint commentary, Chuck Colson says Rick Warren's classic 5 Purposes of the church are actually "a prescription for the continued marginalization of the Church." Colson is merely commenting on a sermon he heard. He may not realize he is confronting the most popular church growth formula in history: Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Church.

Frankly, I believe the initial success of The Purpose Driven Life was due more to a great number of pastors implementing Warren's church growth strategy by using this Bible study book with their congregations than with the content of the book. It has obviously become more than that now.

Colson's essay encourages us to let the gospel flow from our lives into every sector of thought and society. Check it out:
http://www.breakpoint.org/commentaries/12481-the-mission-of-the-church

Liberal Fascist yes... American Hitler no...

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:48:00 +0000

I am a fan of National Review editor Jonah Goldberg and his book Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning which examines the explicit connection between progressives in America and fascist regimes prior to WWII.

The blog is over and he ended it with an optimistic note comparing Nazi Germany and America:

The simple truth is that I do not think it is in the cards for America to go down a Nazi path. I never said otherwise in Liberal Fascism, either….…. Indeed, while I don't think it is remotely right or fair to call ObamaEnhanced Coverage Linking Obama a crypto-Nazi (if by that you mean to say he's a would-be Hitler), the real problem with all of this loose Nazi talk is that it slanders the American people. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen may have overstated his case in Hitler's Willing Executioners, but he was certainly right that the German people were Hitler's willing enablers. The overwhelming majority of the American people — in their history, culture, bones, hearts, souls, DNA, and carbon molecules — are not like that. That goes for American liberals and leftists too.

The extent and depth of liberalism's obtuseness on the subject of fascism (and much else) stews my bowels, but American liberals are still Americans, and Americans will not goose-step behind a Hitler, period.

As I make clear in Liberal Fascism, the obvious and pressing threat is not from a Hitlerite-Orwellian dictatorship but from a Huxleyan namby-pamby mommy state. That sort of system could seduce Americans into becoming chestless subjects of the State in exchange for bottomless self-gratification and liberation from the necessity of adult decision-making. Yes, there's a danger that such a society could then be susceptible to some darker vision that lionizes the lost manhood of a half-forgotten past. But, by that point, this would be America in name only, if even that ("U.N. District 12" has a nice ring to it).

Driscoll's sexually explicit pulpit

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:36:00 +0000

Baptist Press has an article today about Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church:
http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=30700

I don't follow this guy's goings on. I suppose it is possible he is being misquoted.
Is the gospel pulpit really the place for this kind of language? How does someone imagine they have a biblical mandate for this?

It only makes sense in the age of Howard Stern, "U2 Eucharists" and the "if-it-takes-a-hotdog-to-get-em-to-church-give-em-a-hotdog."

Science, certainty and the earth's magnetic field

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:41:00 +0000

Knowledge is not the same as psychological certainty.
Here's an example of how an established scientific truth is in fact not established at all.

Until today I have never doubted that the earth's magnetic field was the result of molten iron in the earth's core and this article does not disprove it. But it does reveal the lack of positive proof for that doctrine. To date it has been the best explanation of the magnetic field. But it has never been proven.

http://www.iop.org/News/news_35352.html

Another example of how faith ("belief based upon testimony") is only as strong as its object.

Faith & Science

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Sat, 30 May 2009 18:59:00 +0000

What is faith and when is it justified?

I often try to show non-religious folks how they exercise faith on a daily basis. If faith is "belief based upon testimony" then the real issue is the strength & credibility of the testimony, the thing or person being trusted.

This article on scientists fabricating data exposes the dilemna of those who incorrectly think they can construct a personal philosophy without any kind of faith.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0005738

In conclusion, several surveys asking scientists about misconduct have been conducted to date, and the differences in their results are largely due to differences in methods. Only by controlling for these latter can the effects of country, discipline, and other demographic characteristics be studied in detail. Therefore, there appears to be little scope for conducting more small descriptive surveys, unless they adopted standard methodologies. On the other hand, there is ample scope for surveys aimed at identifying sociological factors associated with scientific misconduct. Overall, admission rates are consistent with the highest estimates of misconduct obtained using other sources of data, in particular FDA data audits. However, it is likely that, if on average 2% of scientists admit to have falsified research at least once and up to 34% admit other questionable research practices, the actual frequencies of misconduct could be higher than this.

Notes from Henry Blackaby breakfast

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:53:00 +0000

These were some things I wrote down while listening to Henry Blackaby speak this morning at the church at a breakfast. I did not catch the main speech but was there for Q & A.

"Whatever time you have to get up, you need an unhurried time with God at the beginning of every day." He quoted Psalm 1

He recommended a notepad or journal to record what God says to you that day in the Word as well as updates and followup of how God used that.

"You are where you are because God put you there . . . Fix your your heart firmly in your relationship with God and speak what God puts on your heart."

I found this statement about the day of judgement convicting even though I believe God is sovereign over all things including my mistakes.
He suggested God will say to us "Let me tell you what could have been if you had just believed me"

I couldn't afford the money for the breakfast but stumbled onto it this morning. The whole incident made me think of how Buster says that we have to put ourselves in situations where God is likely to give us grace. It is unlikely that you'll have an encounter with God while hanging out in a bar or with the wrong people.

Moses & Sex

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:26:00 +0000

In the early chapters of Genesis Moses shows metaphysical foundations for the law. God places great value in humanity, makes them 'in his own image' and commands them to go forth & multiply. God endows each person with infinite worth & dignity. Biblical injunctions, unlike human misrepresentations of them, preserve our freedom & dignity. In contrast, whatever value Freud saw in humanity is ultimately swept away in an infinite, impersonal universe governed by chance & thermodynamics.

Moses uses a wonderful euphemism for sex "Adam knew Eve and she conceived." In fact, 'know' is more than a euphemism, it is one of the distinctives of the biblical view of sex and stands in total contrast to the anonymity of pornography and leisure sex.

Another distinctive of the biblical perspective is the ability to distinguish between restraint and repression. On the other hand, moral relativists must constantly draw lines in the sand, only to erase them and draw them elsewhere. Ultimately, atheism hasn't the resources to keep the lid on Pandora's box.

God's revelation is hope with a capital 'H' and meaning with a capital 'M'. For me personally, the journey to meaning began when I said a simple prayer so obviously full of doubt, yet with a mustard seed of faith: "God, if you are real show me."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply."
(Genesis 1:27-28)

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
(Genesis 2:24-25 )

You shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14 )

Ground force invades Gaza

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:25:00 +0000

Ground force invades Gaza
JPost

Fox News

Psalm 2 was part of yesterdays reading "why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain?" Eyes that see God's victory in the events around us neither fear nor despair. Rather they ask "what would Jesus do?"

"The world may sometimes favor Christianity and other times persecute it. This makes no difference in the need for personal holiness. Such attributes as humility, longing for heaven, devotion, love, and renunciation of the world are always to be a part of the Christian life."
William Law in "Christian Perfection" chapter 4

Finding hope outside economics

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:56:00 +0000

'08 Markets biggest drop since '31 (NY Times)

Dow Jones ended down 33.8%
S&P finished with 39% loss (similar to 1939)
Blue chips lose as much as 65% of value

I ended the year reading the book of Revelation. Chapter 18 is astonishing in light of our global financial crisis, not necessarily as prophecy but as philosophy.

Here is a selection from Rev 18 in the ESV

The Fall of Babylon
An angel called out with a mighty voice:
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great...
the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living. . . "

And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.

“The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you,

and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you,

never to be found again!”

Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets,

for God has given judgment for you against her!”

Here the world is mourning over the desolation of its economic system. If I were an apocalyptic-minded person I might head for the hills. But the passage is more a source of hope... despite the worst possible financial circumstances, God is still God. He is in fact working out a plan in the midst of history.

You don't bite the hand that feeds you and I am not so naive as not to realize that my way of life is built on amazing prosperity and economic success. I am very thankful for it. But it is not "the fruit for which my soul longs." I will not despair over all this. God is God. The Great Depression forged strong people. That can happen again. God uses the afflictions of the afflicted to open their eyes and ears. And he takes care of his people. That is the definition of a shepherd.

Psychologists: religious people more self-controlled

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:37:00 +0000

This NY Times article is about the importance of sincere religious belief for self control.
This will encourage followers of Christ who already know this. They compare affects of a general "spiritual"/pantheistic outlook with organized religion as well as folks who participate in religious services for ulterior motives. Definitely worth a click.

Israel's bombings still major news today:
Fox News article
JPost

Total war in Gaza

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:55:00 +0000

Ehud Barak says Israel gave peace a chance for three years but now the gloves are coming off 'war to the bitter end'

Jerusalem Post article
Washington Times
Economist

Find hope in Christmas instead of Caesar

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:11:00 +0000

There is hope. There is ontological meaning for human existence. The universe is not silent. There is ultimate goodness from an infinite personal God. There will be justice against the wicked. There is love for the poor & oppressed, the wise, the ignorant and the broken.
This is the hope.

"Put not your trust in princes,
In a son of man, in whom there is no salvation...
Blessed is he whose hope is in the LORD his God."
(Psalm 146:3-4)

There is no hope in Caesar, whatever his initials. Mary and Joseph were not normally homeless. Every indication is that Joseph was a hard working carpenter. But he had to leave his home by Caesar's decree. Caesar did not know the practical results of this decree thousands of miles away in a little Palestinian village ... no room at the hostel. Caesar was concerned about updating Rome's records for two reasons: taxes and the military. First century Jews were exempt from the latter.

Give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Righteous Joseph did this even at the expense of displacing his family for the census. But we are unwise to expect Caesar to do what he is not fit to do: build the kingdom of God, whether by "faith-based" government programs or redistibution of wealth.

Followers of Christ on the "political left" or "religious right" must not deceive themselves into thinking they can effect spiritual ends with political means.

Rather, we are to be personal agents of hope. We put a face on God's love by giving ourselves, our time and our money to causes worthy of the name of Christ.

Madoff & the Jewish community

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:23:00 +0000

This New York Times essay reflects on Madoff's betrayal of the Jewish community in more ways than one.

Here are some quotes:
Among the apparent victims of Mr. Madoff were many Jewish educational institutions and charitable causes that lost fortunes in his investments; they include Yeshiva University, Hadassah, the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America and the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.

"The anti-Semite's new Santa is Bernard Madoff. The answer to every Jew-hater's wish list. The Aryan Nation at its most delusional couldn't have come up with anything to rival this."

"The Talmud teaches that a person who only looks out for himself and his own interests will eventually be brought to poverty," Rabbi Krause added. "Unfortunately, this is the metadrama of what's happening in our country right now. When you have too many people who are only looking out for themselves and they forget the other piece, which is to look out for others, we're brought to poverty."

I don't know when a NY Times article has talked about someone being beyond salvation but this one discusses whether Madoff can atone for his own sins and concludes:
"The fact that he stole from Jewish charities puts him in a special circle of hell"

Christmas on the other hand plays a different note. I realize that many folks don't want any hope for Madoff but there is hope for him in the Hebrew scriptures nonetheless. It involves repentance but not self-atonement:
But he was wounded because of our sins,
Crushed because of our iniquities.
He bore the chastisement that made us whole,
And by his bruises we were healed.
We all went astray like sheep,
Each going his own way;
And the LORD visited upon him
The guilt of all of us."
Isaiah 53 (JPS Tanakh)

Perhaps Mr. Madoff should start familiarizing himself with Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship, perhaps even download their guide for newbies.

Blair on faith & globalization at Yale

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:13:00 +0000

Catholic News has several interesting news briefs to check out. One is about Tony Blair's comments at Yale on the importance of religious faith for peaceful globalization. Particularly interesting in light of his 2007 conversion to Catholocism.

Another item discusses new laws that protect the conscience of health care providers.

Love of Jesus or despotism of Herod?

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:07:00 +0000

"Making room at the inn"
Often times followers of Christ embrace liberal socialist politics because they believe this reflects the love of Jesus and justice to the poor and oppressed. Obama said as much in his Q & A with Christianity Today.

"They set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh great store cities."
But compassion is only part of the socialist formula. The other part of the equation is the centralization of resources, economic and political power. The dark side of the human heart can be as attracted to economic control as compassion. The USSR demonstrated this conclusively. "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

The truth is, socialism empowers Pharaohs, Nebuchadnezzars and Herods in the name of trying to help the Children of Israel.

This Christmas you may want to check out the book that Thomas Sowell calls "The most outstanding political book of 2008", Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning.

I first saw this book on Goldberg's interesting CSpan Book TV lecture.
(He also has a blog at National Review.

Christmas the heart of the Christian worldview

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:45:00 +0000

There are profound similarities between the philosophical outlook of Judaism and Christianity. In context it may be entirely appropriate to talk about the "Judeo-Christian worldview." But there are significant differences as well.

Some differences arise from Jesus' understanding of the Hebrew Bible in contrast to traditional/rabbinical views.

The biggest difference, however, comes from the fact that, to followers of Christ, Jesus is not merely a great teacher or prophet. The reason his followers affirm the authoritive supremacy of Jesus' teachings relates to who they believe Jesus is.

Christmas is much more than celebrating the birth of our founder. The Christmas story is the record of history's greatest miracle: an infinite, eternal, unchangeable God became a human being. Theologians call this the "incarnation."

If you do not believe in the incarnation I urge you to do a little thought experiment. Imagine for a moment that it is true. How would this change your perspective on life? Consider the impact of the following passage, if true:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1 ESV)

Free book, Bible copyrights

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Tackett) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:20:00 +0000

At this year's Christmas music program, the church gave out copies of John Piper's Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ. We are enjoying it. You might like to know that many of Piper's books are available as free pdf downloads.

Incidentally, the publisher, Crossway Books, is a not-for-profit company.
(one reason to prefer the ESV over the NIV. The NIV is owned by Zondervan, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp)