GAY CONVERSION THERAPY?

Culture, Ethics April 25, 2017 Leave a comment

PMT 2017-033 by Christopher Doyle (Christian Post)

On March 10, ABC’s “20/20” aired a year-long investigation on several “Christian camps” reported to be practicing so-called “gay conversion therapy.” Shockingly, the exposé revealed unspeakable abuse and torture by several unlicensed “pastors” operating reform schools for troubled youth, some of whom identified as gay or lesbian.

Unfortunately, ABC was more sensational than accurate in their reporting when comparing these rogue, abusive camps to licensed therapy for youth struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions and gender confusion, a practice that gay activists have aggressively sought to shut down in more than 25 states and cities across the country. Continue reading →

HEALTH BENEFITS OF WINE

Ethics, Non-eschatology Studies April 21, 2017 Comments: 15

PMT 2017-032 by Mischelle Sandowich (Reformed Health)

Wine is a gift to the human race. What makes wine a gift and not a curse? The answer is in the benefits of wine for your health and emotional well-being. So far we have looked at wine solely from a biblical perspective, but today we will look at 18 science based benefits of wine. If you’ve missed the previous posts, to date we have:

• noted that there are three basic views on alcohol use in the Bible: prohibitionist; abstentionist; and moderationist
• demonstrated that wine in the Bible contained alcohol
• shown one of the benefits of wine is its natural ability to ferment into alcohol – which brings joy to the heart
• provided 14 reasons that God approves the drinking of wine
• and shared 30 warnings in the Bible against drunkenness

Today we will talk about the health benefits of wine from a scientific approach. Continue reading →

CHINA’S REMARKABLE RELIGIOUS RESURGENCE

Church, Culture, missions April 18, 2017 Leave a comment

Interview of Ian Johnson by Rob Moll (Christianity Today)

Under Mao Zedong’s dictatorship, Christianity, Buddhism, and Taoism suffered persecution and near-extinction. In recent decades, however, they have each made an astounding comeback. In The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao, Ian Johnson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has covered China for The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and other publications, offers an intimate look at this remarkable recovery. CT editor at large Rob Moll spoke with Johnson about the reasons for spiritual ferment among the Chinese people.

What spurred your interest in China’s religious resurgence?

When I first went to China in the 1980s, I thought there was probably no religious belief at all. Continue reading →

EASTER AND VICTORY

Christ, Resurrection April 14, 2017 Leave a comment

PMT 2017-030 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This weekend Christians throughout the world especially recall Christ’s resurrection, because this is the Easter season. The Lord’s resurrection was the first step of his exaltation and leads inextricably to his eventual world dominion.

The New Testament has several enthronement passages that highlight his resurrection. The first of the enthronement passages in the post-resurrection age is Acts 2:30ff. This text associates Christ’s enthronement with his exaltation, which begins with his resurrection and proceeds to his ascension and session at God’s right hand. Continue reading →

CHRISTIANS MUST ENGAGE THE CULTURAL WAR

Church, Culture April 11, 2017 Comments: 2

PMT 2017-029 by Michael Brown (The Stream)

Whenever I hear Christian leaders talk about the inevitable collapse of the church of America (or elsewhere) I ask myself, “But hasn’t Jesus risen from the dead? Didn’t He ascend to the right hand of the Father? Hasn’t all authority in heaven and earth been given to Him? And aren’t we commanded to go and make disciples in His name and by His authority?”

If so, how then we can speak of any inevitable collapse of the church (or, specifically, of Christian society), regardless of how inevitable that collapse appears to human eyes? Continue reading →

EVANGELICALS IN A CALVINIST REVIVAL

Culture, Theology, Worldview April 7, 2017 Leave a comment

By Mark Oppenheimer (New York Times)

For those who are sad that the year-end news quizzes are past, here’s one to start 2014: If you have joined a church that preaches a Tulip theology, does that mean a) the pastor bakes flowers into the communion wafers, b) the pastor believes that flowers that rise again every spring symbolize the resurrection, or c) the pastor is a Calvinist?

As an increasing number of Christians know, the answer is “c.” The acronym summarizes John Calvin’s so-called doctrines of grace, with their emphasis on sinfulness and predestination. The T is for man’s Total Depravity. The U is for Unconditional Election, which means that God has already decided who will be saved, without regard to any condition in them, or anything they can do to earn their salvation. Continue reading →

BIG BANG BELIEF BUSTED

Creation March 28, 2017 1 Comment

PMT 2017-025 by John Hartnett (Creation.com

The commonly accepted big bang model supposedly determines the history of the universe precisely (see Figure 1). Yet to do so, it is filled with unprovable fudge factors. That may sound like an exaggerated claim, but it seems to be the state of cosmology today.

This situation has come about because the unverifiable starting assumptions are inherently wrong! Some brave physicists have had the temerity to challenge the ruling paradigm—the standard big bang ?CDM inflation cosmology.1 One of those is Prof. Richard Lieu, Department Chair, Astrophysics, University of Alabama, who wrote:

“Cosmology is not even astrophysics: all the principal assumptions in this field are unverified (or unverifiable) in the laboratory … .”2 [emphasis added]

Continue reading →