Worldviews
The Newsletter of the Apologetics Resource Center
January - February 2007
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We hope you
choose to stay informed, challenged, equipped and engaged
in God's great calling to gain discernment, protection,
and to reach out to
people and
culture with the life-giving truth of Christ. An Important Resource and Great Gift Idea
Our ministry produces an important and very relevant resource - the Areopagus
Journal. Each issue is topical and it is valuable for the grounding and deepening
of a Christian’s world and life view as well as being a great resource
for responding to unbeliever’s questions or objections. We encourage
Christians to copy the articles for distribution to other Christians who
need a better understanding, or to unbelievers "to give a reasoned defense
of the faith."
Also an annual subscription (6 bimonthly
issues for $25) makes a wise gift for others - a gift that keeps on
giving of eternal value.
You will probably want to consider
back issues as we have covered important and relevant topics in the
past such as
Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Same-Sex
Marriage, Homosexuality, Roman Catholicism, Islam, Genetic Engineering,
Inspiration and Inerrancy of the Bible, Canonicity and Da Vinci Code,
Jesus - Legend
or Lord?, Hermeneutics - Interpreting the Bible, etc, etc.
Visit our website
to view back issues and order as many as you'd like online or send
us a written order and check. Consider getting all of
our back issues
for your library or church's library. All 32 back issues have a special
price of $105. Upcoming topics include "New Movements in the Church" which
includes the New Perspective on Paul, the New Apostolic Reformation Movement,
and the Emerging Church Movement. Also forthcoming is our January-February
issue on Christians and the Environment including the global warming controversy.
Also 2007 will include Scientology, Controversial Trends in the Church,
Bible Difficulties, and Does God Exist?
ARC on the Move
- Director,
Craig Branch will be part of a week long "Think Tank" meeting
with Christian leaders, pastors and apologists in San Diego this month,
addressing the seductive rise and neo-paganism inside and outside
the Church and how to
strategically respond.
- Craig is also in the process
of planning a week long collegiate apologetics conference in Romania
this August.
- One of our colleagues, Zoran
Zaev has a team of believers translating our Areopagus Journals for
use in Macedonia. Check out
his IT website
and his wife Angela's unique business website (www.xSynthesis.com
and oldworldcuisine.com).
- The teaching topics from the
Evangelical Ministries to New Religions annual conference are available
at www.emnr.org. ARC staff Craig Branch,
Steve Cowan, Clete Hux and Brandon Robbins spoke on Do We Have the Right Books,
The
Emerging Church, T.D. Jakes and Modelism, Refuting Jehovah Witness's
View of Man's Nature, and Responding to Pop Culture.
- We are teaching apologetics
courses at Birmingham Theological Seminary (www.birminghamseminary.org)
and at Southeastern Bible College (www.sebc.org).
- Brandon teaches a weekly
bible study on systematic theology at Covenant Presbyterian Church.
In April, Brandon will be teaching the college
group at Covenant on Understanding, Engaging, and Living in Our Current Culture.
He has
been researching and preparing for the upcoming journal on The
New Paul Perspective. This is a very “hot topic” especially in
Reformed Theological circles. It is our hope that this journal helps to clarify
the issues
involved and the
importance of defending a traditional view of Paul’s understanding
of the gospel.
- Craig travels to Jacksonville
State University (March 7) and Berry College (March 8) to speak.
- In
February Clete Hux taught at the following churches: Main Street
Presbyterian in Columbus, MS at their missions conference; Beneath
the Cross
Cumberland Presbyterian in Chalkville, AL.
Clete will also be teaching at two Worldviews Conferences: March
4-7 - First Presbyterian Church, Alliceville, AL.
Mar 25-28 - First Presbyterian Church, Enterprise, AL.
- Keith
Gibson will be participating in a Bible Conference April
15-18 on Understanding and Witnessing to Mormons at Pleasant Grove
Bible Church, Kansas City, MO. He also is working on research projects with
Dr.
Phil Roberts
at Midwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary.
Keith also has been meeting regularly with a couple of
men who are Mormon and considering leaving the church.
Please
pray that
the eyes
of these
men will
be opened to the truth of the gospel.
- Pray with us as
we seek financial partners in procuring a building to
house our ministry, library and resources as we plan to
open a multifaceted Christian Study Center in Birmingham.
Cultural Notes
"We are warned by God's word to be on guard and not to be caught and held
captive by vain philosophies, and "avoiding
worldly and empty chatter and opposing arguments
of what is falsely called knowledge." We
are called to "destroy
arguments and every lofty opinion raised up against
the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive
to the obedience of Christ" (2
Tim 2:16; 1 Tim 6: 20; 2 Cor. 10:5).
Yet we are
also called to be "in the world but not
of it." The following "Culture
Notes" are written not just as interesting
information, but to inform and motivate you
to develop a Biblical
worldview so that your faith will
not be compromised, and so that you may discuss
these issues with family (your
children) and friends, using the opportunity
to share the gospel, its relevance, and to
help infuse
a life-giving
Biblical worldview outside yourself.
Two Most
Important News Events
What has been the most important news event
in February? Obviously it is the death
and aftermath of Anna
Nicole Smith (and child),
and who’s
still on American Idol.
What does that say
about our culture? One thing (among many)
is that the commercial
media tells us what is
important, and too many
fall
right in line. What would
happen if millions sent emails to the
networks and said we
will change the channel when we see it
come up?
Super Bowl and the Church
John Whitehead of the Christian legal group,
The Rutherford Institute, recently wrote
an article spotlighting the
drift and shallowness
of our culture. The
event caught in the crosshair was the
2007 Super Bowl.
He wasn't criticizing the interest
in the game or sports for that matter. He
pointed
out the cultural slide
and the profile
or role
of the Church.
The NFL tried to prevent
churches from holding Super Bowl large screen viewing
parties.
The NFL claimed
that the
church viewing
parties
might adversely affect
their Nielsen ratings, which are
used to leverage more advertising dollars,
even
though bars were allowed
permission.
Programming is all geared around
commercial value. Greed has become
the primary
motivation. Many of the
commercials
aired
during the
Super Bowl, while clever
and funny, had sex and materialism
as their themes. Commercials
cost $2.6 million
for
30 seconds with a
viewing audience
estimated at
90 million.
So have sex, materialism
and greed become the emphasis or even a part
of what was
a relatively wholesome spectator
sport?
And is it
wise
for churches to
support such events even in
the name of outreach? Frog in
the kettle.
Clash of Cultures
One major function of the Apologetics
Resource Center is to alert,
motivate and equip
the Body of Christ
to be salt
and
light in
the culture. If not,
Christians blindly begin
to accommodate to the culture.
Or, Christians
retreat and isolate
themselves into a deformed "Christian" subculture.
The
positive influence of true
Christianity in the
West is
waning. Examples?
We've noted many over the
years
in Worldviews.
Here
are some more:
- Paganism - Margot Adler is
a major pagan (witch) leader and is also a reporter for the National
Public Radio. In
her research, the State of Paganism Today; she reports
the studies estimate there are 300,000-750,000 Americans who
identify themselves as pagans. In 2002 there were over
5000 pagan websites and still climbing.
- In France,
the number of self-declared Catholics has dropped from 80% in the
early 1990's, to 67% in 2000,
and 51% in
2006. Atheists have increased from 23% in 1994 to 31%
today. Only 10% of the population goes to church. Of
the 51% who
call themselves Catholic, only ½ said they believe
in God. And the decline is not due to conversions to
Christ and Protestantism.
- Pornography
- It used to be that porn was accessed through sleazy magazines
and x-rated films which required
some measure
of exposure. But today with the instant secret access
of the internet and telephone "sex," the
seduction has grown to mammoth proportions.
Most Christians,
and non-Christians, shook their heads and pointed
their fingers at Ted Haggard's
homosexual
and drug exposure, covering up or minimizing their
own secret perversion and sins of pornography indulgence.
At $12 billion
a year the porn industry in the US are larger then
the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball combined.
Worldwide porn revenue
is reported
at $57 billion. In 1998, there were 28,000 x-rated websites. By 2001
the number had increased to 280,000.
In 2001 the National Coalition
to Protect Children and Families surveyed 5 Christian colleges and
learned that 48% of males admitted to current
porn use
and 68% said they intentionally viewed a sexually explicit site at
school. A Christianity Today survey revealed that 37% of pastors "struggle" with
internet porn.
We strongly urge everyone reading this, especially if you have children,
to subscribe to BSafe.com or CovenantEyes.com programs for protection
and accountability.
"In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of
themselves…lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God" (2
Tim. 3:1, 46).
- Islam rising - How? The war in
Iraq, and recent past conflicts in
Kuwait and Afghanistan have served, at one level, to raise the level
of allegiances
and commitment to the original militant jihadic version of Islam.
They have always been there but the threat to their existence and
power has energized their passion and will. But beyond that, most
Muslims
are more quietly
spreading their influence in the world, including the West, through
procreation and immigration.
Worldwide Muslim population has grown from 200 million in 1900 to
over 1.2 billion today. England is now 14% Muslim, America is 5%,
and in
the next decades
Muslims will be the overwhelming majority in North and West Africa,
as they already are in Indonesia and Western Asia.
Westerners believe that the younger Muslim generations in their countries
tend to become more secular and less religious. Yet a recent study
in Great Britain
discovered just the opposite is occurring. The study demonstrated
that the younger generation (16-30) believed as much as their parents,
that
9/11 was
a Bush conspiracy, the killing of Princess Diana occurred because
of her relationship with a Muslim, the July 7 London bombings were
justified
because of Britain's
support of the Iraq war.
The cultural shift in America towards decadence, Hollywood and the
media’s
war on Christian values and morals have served to strengthen the
resolve of Muslims against the existence of Western culture.
So what are we to do? First become informed about Islam and its various
expressions. Second, engage Muslims, especially college students.
Third, learn an apologetic
response to share our faith effectively. Order our journal on Islam
and pass on the article to many others. Do not retreat from the culture,
and intentionally
engage all ways of culture with appropriate actions and God's life-giving
truth.
- Science
and the Bible A major full page story was just released (2/5/07)
in USA Today titled, "The Bible vs. Science." It
was one of the most blatant one-sided, dishonest, secular apologetics
pieces I have seen.
The article is filled with false caricatures of creationist positions
to make them look ridiculous compared with scientific "facts." What
seemingly prompted the article was a recent protest of a group,
Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility, over the National Park Service's
inclusion of a book by a young earth creationist's view of creation,
in their Grand Canyon
Visitor's Center.
The article concludes that "No amount of scientific evidence
will convince an ardent creationist of the validity of human evolution
or that the earth
is billions of years old."
The article is subtitled, "Some creationists have decided
to pick a fight that is neither necessary nor wise. Let science
be science and let religion
be religion. The two need not be reconciled. After all, shouldn't
faith be enough?"
Most Americans resort to a theistic evolution concept to reconcile
these "facts" and
faith. Yet atheism has grown in America from 5% to 14% over the
past 30 years.
So our mission field is growing in this area. Not only are more
people drifting away (and affecting friends and family) but ideas
have real
consequences. The
naturalistic materialism philosophy behind macroevolution affects
laws, morals, and cultural values.
Order our two journals Science vs. Christianity and Creation or
Evolution? and be-come prepared to intelligently engage and correct
those whose
ideas lead to death.
Frog and Horse
I wrote an article in a past Areopagus Journal on Yoga with the
above title. My metaphors have to do with the stories of "the
frog in the kettle" and
the story of the Trojan horse. New Age or neo-paganism concepts
and techniques are gaining more acceptance and permeability
in our society/culture. It is
slowly influencing, sneaking past the guards, unnoticed. More
and more people are numbed and seduced by this process.
Transcendental
Mediation and Yoga are making a strong resurgence
in society and in public schools. A Washington Post story
(1/23/07) noted, "As our
big demographic bulge of boomers hits the years when mortality
truly starts to sink in, Asian spirituality [new age, neo-pagan]
has become more mainstream
than ever…Some 10 million Americans say they meditate.
Yoga is a $3 billion market…The National Center for
Complemen-tary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institute
of Health
is sponsoring studies to investigate the
claims and effects of meditation, how it influences health."
With
such receptivity, the parental protests of the use of yoga
and TM 12-14 years ago have faded and are being drowned
out by
the tidal
wave
of new age
spiritualities.
For example in Quebec, Canada, the government where all
religious institution in public schools is forbidden, a
half dozen
schools are seeking to
introduce TM into their curriculums. In 2006, American
filmmaker David Lynch began
the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness - Based Education
to set aside millions
of dollars in grant money to train any child, including
school children, in TM.
We have reported about new ager
Tara Guber's relentless mission to integrate yoga (Yoga
Ed) into public and charter
schools.
Because of some parental
resistance, Guber has crafted a new curriculum that eliminated
chanting
and changed terminology.
Yoga panting becomes "bunny breathing," and
meditation becomes "time-in."
Now more than
100 schools in 26 states have adopted Guber's "Yoga
Ed" program
and over 300 physical education teachers have been
trained thus far in it.
Even in conservative Birm-ingham,
our newspaper’s liberal religion writer
recently ran (2/9/07) a full page feature story, "Learning
to Relax - children learn to meditate in Buddhist
method at Center." These children
also were given yoga instructions. The Center’s
teacher said, "It's
a growing group. There's a lot of interest in Buddhist
philosophy."
The article states "meditation
is part of so many other faith traditions." One
participant interviewed was a United Methodist
deacon who goes three times per week. The Center's
founder
stated that "people from various Christian
traditions often take part and bring their children."
Even
part of the Emerging Church Movement and liberal "Christianity" is
engaging in "Centering Prayer" and
the Labyrinth prayer.
Okay, enough is enough.
There continues to be
evidence that the Church is compromising and
synthesizing
eastern, mystical,
heretical
spirituality.
You need to understand
and separate the wheat from the chaff, and
aggressively insisting (with grace) that public schools cannot
use meditation and
yoga.
Order
my book Public Schools: The Sorcerer's New Apprentice? today. Learn about the spiritual
and
even physiological
dangers of TM
as well as the
problems
with yoga, and specifically how you can effectively
challenge their use in schools.
Amazing Grace
A new movie about the life of Christian leader
and politician William Wilberforce (1759-1833)
in England,
who's tireless
and lifelong
efforts to eliminate slave
trade and slavery in England, is being
released on Feb. 23.
We've recently seen The Passion
and The End of the Spear come to the big screen
with
success, now it
is time to
support and
take
friends (yes, non-Christian
as well as Christian). The film is a
great reminder
to us and others that faith and positive
social action go
together.
State of the Union
The following is a report on some of
the state of spirituality in America.
You won't
hear
about this
in any President's
report.
At the end of 2006, only 5%
of our population understand and live by a
Biblical worldview.
Barna's research
reveals that while
a
large majority
of Americans
claim to be "deeply spiritual," only
15% of regular church attendees say "their
relationship with God," is a
top priority.
75% of teenagers have
engaged in
at least one type of psychic or
witchcraft related
activity
(books
on WICCA,
playing
fantasy games
involving sorcery
and witchcraft, and palm reading),
yet only 30% of teens have received
any teaching
on the occult or elements of the
supernatural.
The content of discipleship
is obviously non-existent or at best,
weak, in
the Church. What kind
of Christian worldview
do most
have? What
is the discernment
level?
Well, read some of the list that
over 200,000 readers of The Church
Report,
named as "the 50 most influential
Christians in America." Notice
who the influential are and the
low level discernment of Christians.
#1
was Joel Osteen (#2 in 2005).
Osteen is the feel good, material
wealth,
its all about
your
best life
now guy.
In 2005 the #1
guy was the heretic
TD Jakes (#4 in 2007). #6 is
Paul Crouch, #7 Joyce Meyer
(both Word-Faith
heretics),
#8,10,12 are all Emerging Church
leaders Leonard
Sweet, Rob Bell, Erwin McManus,
and #13 is Robert Schuller,
another feel good
positive thinker
who borders
on universalism. Letters
We heard you speak ad MBCC a couple of years ago. We look
forward to the Areopagus Journal. Keep up the good work -
helping the rest of us keep the faith. B'ham, AL.
I have been teaching/preaching
a number of years and I noticed quite clearly that the
truth of scripture has very little
appeal to teenagers…Do you have any of your staff involved
specifically in this area that would help me…Any help
you could give will be appreciated. Harleton, TX
Thank you for your help. I enjoy the journals very much.
I became a Presbyterian pastor just three years ago after
graduation from Fuller Theological Seminary. For the past
40 years I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses, even serving at
their world headquarters. May God bless you in your work
of sounding down the truth in hearts of believers. Neosho,
MO
Thanks for the reminders
to resubscribe to the journal. The articles are coming
in handy here in Western Montana where
Mormonism and general paganism ride bold and bareback...
Keep up the good work and blessings on you and your staff.
Western Montana
I
received your article from a friend…I very much
enjoyed the challenging perspectives that you gave and the
reasoning behind them. Consequently, I agree with you, having
seen many of these concerns flesh out in some of my close
friends who attend…I don't know if you're aware of
it, but they are opening a satellite campus this Sunday in
Auburn and I was just looking for anything that could help
me tactfully explain why I do not attend. Thank you so much
for the time and effort you put into the article. I have
looked for something like this before, but could not find
it. It has been a real help in sharpening doctrine to be
used in the advancing of His kingdom. Auburn, Alabama (top) |
