The Kingdom Come

While within the environs of the independent fundamental baptist denominations, an often quoted and topic-launching verse was Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

The implied contention is (at least within that denomination) that if you raise your children correctly, they will remain good, Christian persons.

Attached to this idea that you simply need to raise your child correctly are all sorts of other aspects such as; to home school or not, Christian school or not, sheltering or not.

Interestingly, some of the worst behaved children within the church structure tend to be the "pastor's kids"...at least this is what is often said. Is it the stigma and pressure of being the pastor's kid that would cause them to tend to rebel?

Further, children raised in strict Christian homes, sheltered from "the world" are often said to "go wild" later in life. If this is really true, why is this and how does it compare with what Proverbs 22:6 says?

As we know, the media often portrays Muslim or Islamic extremists as a different and minority group within the larger religion of Islam. We are told that most Muslims aren't terrorists and don't want to harm other people. We are told that "Islam is a religion of peace". And there is some truth to at least one part of these claims; most Muslims aren't terrorists, otherwise the situation would be worse. So, then why does a group of Muslims turn to terrorism? Are they merely taking an extreme, literal interpretation of the Koran?

Then, when we think of Christian extremism, is it groups like the Branch Davidians, the Jim Jones sect or other such groups? Or is it more accurate to consider groups like the Amish, Quakers, and Mennonites as the comparison to the so-called Islamic extremists. After all, the ones that are labeled extremists are those who take the actual text the most literal -- and with Islam that is the terrorists and with Christianity that is the Amish/Quakers/Mennonites and such.

In Indianapolis, near where I live every summer the city hosts an event called The Indiana Black Expo (IBE). Typically, the event experiences some sort of violence but in the summer of 2010 there was a mass shooting where 9 people were injured (source). But it was the response to this situation that highlights the real trouble.

Tanya Bell, president and CEO of the IBE said a task force was being formed to examine "the root causes of youth violence" (source). Here is where there seems to be a very huge blind spot in much of the black community. When you have groups that focus on race; such as calling an event "Black Expo" or having "Black History Month", "Black Miss America", "Negro College Fund" and such then it should be clear that is seeding and perpetuating a root of bitterness (Hebrews 12:14-15) and resentment.

By now most people have heard at least sound bites of Mel Gibson's horrid comments toward his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva who is also the mother of one of his children (source). But the purpose of this article ISN'T to get on the bandwagon of "Oh did you hear what Mel Gibson said?" Rather, as a Christian website I want to address Gibson's Christian connection and how this issue intersects.

I had the honor to attend a relative's high school graduation. It was extra special since this relative is graduating from the same high school from which my dad graduated, making them the first grandchild to graduate from the same school from which he did.

There was the expected excitement of new lives about to commence into adulthood. But I was puzzled at the Commencement Speech by some local dignitary which seemed more of a political statement than an encouragement to these young adults. Why must these people always talk about left-wing agendas? In this case, this person spoke about protecting the earth and the "green" agenda.

The more and more I thought about the various speeches offered by the dignitaries, I noticed a theme. They were all advocating that these graduates CHANGE the world.

Okay, you've heard sermons where the speaker takes a bit of liberty in applying a text to you personally, even ignoring the actual context of the passage. But this Personal Promise Bible version actually will replace pronouns like you, we, my, and us with your own name. Ummm, I don't think this is what the phrase "the Bible is written not to you but for you" means.

I would feel rather narcissistic having this Bible version, not to mention how it distorts context. I am however curious if whatever program they use to convert the pronouns has been tweaked enough to watch out for pronouns associated with Satan and Judas so that your name won't be inserted there.

No one said being a Christian was going to be one giant love-fest where everything is always cheery. Most of us Christians don't look or act anything like Ned Flanders from the Simpson's cartoon. Flanders seems to be the ideal Christian most non-Christians envision. It would certainly be very difficult to live up to that fictional character. Even Jesus drove out the money-changers with a whip in hand. Even Paul withstood Peter to the face and parted ways with John Mark.

Recently I followed a link to an article I saw on a liberal website. The article appeared on Newsweek's website on April 3rd 2010 under the title, A Woman's Place is in the Church with a tagline of "The cause of the Catholic clergy's sex-abuse scandal is no mystery: insular groups of men often do bad things. So why not break up the all-male club?"

So even the tagline informs what the article is going to contain. But let me be clear, as a Reformed/Protestant Christian, I have no admiration for what the Roman Catholic Church has become since Papalism took over. Nor do I want to appear to be defending the pedophiles plaguing the RCC. However, this Newsweek article isn't really about those issues. Those issues are just being used by the Newsweek author to advance more liberalism.

I often play civilization strategy/war games on the computer, both online and off. During an online game, I started joking with some of the other players about their tax policies on their population and said that my taxation was set at 100% and that my population had 0% unemployment because my citizens were all receiving government subsidies. To further the geeky fun, I told them I disbanded my society's military after making promises to the liberal supporters that if they elected me, I would make sure all our enemies loved us and would never want to kill us.

For you gamers out there, stop for a moment and think what it would really be like if you put into practice in your civilization games, the agendas of men like Barak Obama.

Sometimes when in discussion with atheists or people resisting Christianity, or religion in general you will hear the claim that religion has been the cause of the most human suffering and death in the world. Typically, events like the Crusades, the so-called "witch hunts" and the Inquisition will be trotted out as proof. And many Christians will shrink back or will say something like, "Even so, Christianity as it was espoused by Christ is non-violent." Although it is true that Christianity as espoused by Christ was to be spread not by the sword (as Islam is designed), but by the Word, by mere preaching. But why should we allow the atheist to even use the Crusades and such as evidence in their claim that most human suffering and death has been caused by religion. It plainly is not true.

What I want to do is offer a detailed listing of human death from the 18th century through the 20th century and see if the claim is true. Yes, we'll also look at the Crusades, the witch hunts and the Inquisition.