The most expensive match in boxing history is now behind us. Manny Pacquiao’s under-dog status, his charisma were not enough to defeat the undefeatable Floyd Mayweather. Floyd is now 48-0. One more victory puts him in the same league as the legendary Rocky Marciano.
But the things behind the scene of this magnanimous match is what has caught the attention of many in the media. Mayweather is an extraordinary fighter. He happens to be also an extraordinary domestic abuser. His well and hideously documented record of abuse can be found here. Many were boycotting the fight in protest. The validity of such tactic can be discussed at another time.
What is, however, most disturbing is the media’s reaction to Pacquiao.
News.Mic has made this clear in a recent article referring to Pacquiao as the Bible-Thumping Reactionary. Pacquiao’s sin is that “he does happen to be a Bible-thumping politician who thinks gay marriage will usher in a modern-day “Sodom and Gomorrah” and opposes affordable contraceptives for poor women with little access to modern health care.” Manny Pacquiao is hailed by the liberal media as a paragon of intolerance. In summary, the article concludes:
It’s not an exaggeration to say that as a politician, Pacquiao supported pushing the Bible over the health and well-being of his constituents.
Pacquiao’s clear Christian conscience over issues that are conspicuously orthodox now serves as a rationale to place Manny on the same scale as the despicable Mayweather.
The hero Congressman and boxer from the Philippines should be praised for suffering persecution for defending truth. Flannery O’Connor once wrote that, “truth is truth whether you are able to stomach it or not.” Manny’s platform has provided him with a remarkable opportunity. His victories in the ring may determine his legacy as a great boxer, but his legacy as a Christian activist may speak louder and hurt his opponents even more.
“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.” George Orwell, 1984
Jack Phillips is a Christian baker in Lakewood, Colorado. In 2012 Jack Phillips refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. This couple then reported him to to Civil Rights Commission. A lawsuit followed. The judge ruled against Jack Phillips. The Civil Rights Commission has now come back with its ruling, which consists of three parts.
First, Jack Phillips must change his store policies immediately and begin make wedding cakes for gay couples.
Second, his entire staff must attend training on Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws and agree to abide by them.
Third, for the next two years he must submit quarterly reports to show that he has not discriminated against customers based on their sexual orientation.
Jack Phillips might appeal the decision, but it is hard to see how anything will change.
Here are few quotes.
The Commission chairwoman, “You can have your beliefs, but you can’t hurt people at the same time.”
The ACLU attorney, “Religious freedom is undoubtedly an important American value, but so is the right to be treated equally under the law free from discrimination…Everyone is free to believe what they want, but businesses like Masterpiece Cakeshop cannot treat some customers differently than others based on who they are as people.”
The judge, “At first blush, it may seem reasonable that a private business should be able to refuse service to anyone it chooses. This view, however, fails to take into account the cost to society and the hurt caused to persons who are denied service simply because of who they are.”
Let the tearing begin.
So how should we live in this country where the rejection of God’s created order is law? How should we live when those in power want to reshape our minds in ways contrary to Scripture? Here are a few thoughts in no particular order.
First, we are past the live and let live stage (if one ever existed). The sodomites are not saying, “We will live this way and you live that way and we can coexist.” They are demanding that we publicly accept their sins. Anyone who believes that we can all just get along will soon wake up to find their position overrun.
Second, they will come for our children. How long before the State demands that home schooled children and children in Christian schools get “sensitivity training?” If they can make a business owner train his employees why not a principle his students and teachers? Why not a parent their children?
Third, Christians in all walks of life should expect more traps. Think of Daniel 6. Pastors should expect homosexuals to visit their congregations to see if they are preaching against homosexuality. Christian business owners should expect homosexuals to come in and see if they get turned away. Christian politicians should expect homosexuals to try and out them in some way. I am not encouraging hand wringing, just open eyes.
Fourth, human sexuality, including male-female roles, marriage, procreation, female ministers, sodomy, abortion, divorce, rape, pedophilia, sexual abuse, transgender, etc. is the battle line right now in America. There are other issues, but none as pressing as this one. Therefore this is where we must fight. I am not saying this is all we talk about. And I understand that there are many ways we fight against this wave of immorality, such as love our wives, worship the living God, evangelize our neighbor, teach our children, live holy lives, and preach the Word. But let’s not miss the obvious: one way we must fight is by saying clearly and without apology what God’s Word teaches on these subjects.
Fifth, any pastor or public Christian leader who refuses to speak against these things is a coward. Again, I am not saying this is all we to talk about or that we speak with malice . But our stance on sodomy, and issues related to it needs to be clear and public. It our duty to stand in the line of fire, to preach the Word, and to rally God’s people around the truth. A pastor or public leader whose stance on the above issues is vague or unknown is not being a faithful shepherd.
Sixth, pastors and Christian leaders need to teach their people what godly civil disobedience looks like. There is a lot of freedom in how we resist the State’s growing power. But the time for abstract theological discussion about civil disobedience is passing quickly. We must study God’s Word, meditate on it, pray through it, and study our fathers in the past to learn from them. Then we must teach our people the proper responses to the State. What can we do as Christians? Is there any place to take up arms? (Maybe those debates about the Revolutionary War and the Civil War are not so arcane after all.) Should we march? Should we keep our businesses open even if there is the threat of police action? Should a Christian business owner reject a homosexual job applicant? What should we do if they come for our children? What if they come for our guns? Should Christians accept government money in any situation? What should Christian schools do if they are commanded to teach that homosexuality is fine? How should Christian magistrates function? Should Christian soldiers get out or resist from within? Pastors and churchmen should be leading the charge in answering these and other questions.
Seventh, Christians should expect to lose money, businesses, tax breaks, jobs, etc. for taking a stand against unbiblical sexual practices. The Church and her members need to be prepared for this. We should think long term in our financial dealings so that we can “have something to give him who has need.” (Ephesians 4:28)
Eighth, churches should pray for leaders in corporate worship. I Timothy 2 is clear on this point. Do we pray for our leaders? Do we pray for new, righteous leaders to rise up? Do we pray that God would cast down those who hate his Church? Do we pray for pagan leaders to repent and turn to Christ? Do we pray for that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness (I Timothy 2:2)? Do we pray for our leaders by name?
Ninth, Christians need to be known as a peaceful people. Psalm 120:7 says, “I am for peace, but they are for war.” We should be the ones who long for peace. This does not mean we are quiet about everything. Nor does this mean we compromise the Gospel to be at “peace with all men” (Romans 12:18). But it does mean we are careful about what battles we fight. Young people, of whom I am one, especially need to hear this. We tend to think that every sin is worthy of fire bombing. But we need to make sure we are hitting the big targets and not spending days chasing one lone enemy through the forest.
Tenth, we must not despair. Jesus sits on throne. We should act from faith, not fear. We should not be anxious, worried, fretful, fearful, depressed, or discouraged. Our Lord told us this would happen. Our Lord told us to rejoice when we are persecuted. The Church will march on. We have a job to do. Let us do it with joy in the Holy Spirit, faith in Christ, and dependence upon our Father. In the end, all will be well.<>наполнение а текстом
Social media has been in a frenzy this week over Miley Cyrus’ live show on Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards. Her performance was outlandish, embarrassing, and contained undertones of pedophilia. Cyrus, 20, wore a leotard with a teddy bear design while her dancers were in teddy bear costumes. This presented us with a very silly, childlike theme consistent with the song’s music video. Robin Thicke, 36, enters the stage wearing a black and white striped suit, reminiscent of a prison uniform. Cyrus then proceeds to perform sexual gestures toward him. Though Cyrus is “legal,” the visual was one of a young girl simulating sexual acts with an adult criminal.
Now, we shouldn’t be shocked by this behavior. MTV has been known to push the envelope many times before. Nevertheless, the desperation and immaturity that Cyrus displayed was so extreme that it sent pop-culture into mourning. Bloggers and journalists – particularly Christian conservative ones – have rightly called Cyrus out for her antics. For whatever reason, however, the critics haven’t been as tough on Thicke.
Yet, the Miley Cyrus performance was only half of the problem. There were other displays of inappropriate behavior, including Lady Gaga showing off her bare backside. But I’m mostly surprised that Christian bloggers haven’t said anything about the overtly pro-gay evangelism of rapper Macklemore. His song, “Same Love” won the award for Best Video with a Social Message. His acceptance speech included: (more…)
“There is a…kind of temptation, which, I fear has not passed from me. Can it ever pass from me in all this life? It is the desire to be feared and loved by other men. Saint Augustine
We all want to be in the “in” crowd or as C.S. Lewis called it “The Inner Circle.” We have a desire to be in that circle of men who are accepted and adored. Christians are not immune to this. In fact, I would argue that the desire to be cool drives more men to leave Christ than almost anything else in our age.
And so it is not surprising that Paul Raushenbush, the senior religion editor at the Huffington Post, wants Christianity to be cool. In this article he declares that to his great delight Christianity has once again become cool. How did this marvelous transfer from the kingdom of uncool to the kingdom of cool take place? The Pope declared that he would not judge gays and Desmond Tutu declared that he would rather go to Hell than go to a Heaven with a homophobic God. For Raushenbush it has been a good week for Christianity. Finally, after years of bondage to fundamentalism (aka, the Bible), we can move on and make Jesus, God, and the Bible into our own cool image. Let me point you to a few things of note. (By the way, Al Mohler disputes that the Pope meant what the media and Raushenbush thought he meant.)
First, Raushenbush states very clearly what uncool Christianity is: women are not equal, haters of science, degrading to the LGBT community, suspicious of other faiths, and pro-military. In order for Christians to be cool again they must do the following: deny the Biblical roles of men and women, accept evolution as fact, accept climate change as fact, accept the LGBT without calling them to repent and change, and accept people of other faiths as good, spiritual, ethical people who are all on the stairway to Heaven. These things are battle lines. Here is where the world is attacking. So many Christians, especially pastors and seminary professors, want to fight other battles. Why? They are cowards and like Raushenbush they do not want to be thought of as uncool, backwards, fundamentalist, or traditional. If we refuse to speak out on these points we have run from the battle. Now of course, we can do this badly and in an unbiblical manner. Our desire should be to fight the battle in a way that pleases our Lord. But we must fight. And I would take a man who fights badly over a man who doesn’t fight at all.
Second, do not read the words through your own eyes. Read them through their eyes. Many Christians will say, “Well I would not want to go to a Heaven where God hates gays either.” But this is not what they are saying. When Desmond Tutu says, “homophobic” he does not mean hatred of gays, which most Christians in our day oppose. He means any refutation of sodomite lifestyles is unacceptable. When they say, “climate control” they do not mean “godly stewardship.” They mean population control through birth control and abortion. They mean refusing to take dominion. They mean hatred of God’s established order. They mean a pseudo-pantheism. Notice how his article ends. He invites his gay friends to a disco mass at his church. He notes how they enjoyed it and felt comfortable. Then he says they may never go to church again. “I don’t need them to become Christians.” In other words, he rejects everything Christianity is. He rejects Jesus, mercy, grace, Hell, judgment, the Trinity, and everything in between. When they talk about sodomy, climate control, etc. this is what they mean. Even the “pro-military” swipe, which I have some sympathy with, must be taken in context. Raushenbush does not mean what I mean when we talk about American foreign policy. The author establishes meaning, not the reader.
Third, men who teach these things are wolves. We do not like to say this. We waver. We shuffle our feet and look at the floor. We slink towards dialogue and compromise. But make no mistake. Men who long to be cool and yet still be Christian are hirelings. Men like Raushenbush, Tutu, Jim Wallis, Rob Bell, are butchers not shepherds. They hate the sheep, which Christ purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28) All around them sheep are bleeding and dying at their hands. One day they will be held accountable for the slaughter. The men who refuse to confront them will also be held accountable. (Ezekiel 34)
Finally, guard your own heart. Raushenbush is a lost fool bound for an eternity in darkness if he doesn’t repent. It is easy to say, “That will never be me.” But Saint Augustine understood the draw. He knew that his heart could easily be led astray by the desire to please men, the desire to be cool and powerful. The world seduces us with her images of cool, young, sexy people. Our hearts tell us we can follow Jesus and be one of the in crowd. I can follow Jesus and not deny myself . I can follow Jesus and still love the world and the things of the world. I can follow Jesus and still be hip. I can follow Jesus and still be adored by the secular scientific community. I can follow Jesus and not be thought of as bigot or homophobe or hater of women. Brothers and sisters, it is not true. Paul became like scum and refuse. (I Corinthians 4:13) Jesus himself became a man of no reputation. He was despised, afflicted, and not esteemed. (Isaiah 53:3) Our father in the faith, Moses, left the glories of Egypt to suffer affliction with the people of God and live with the reproach of Christ. (Hebrews 11:26) Let us guard our hearts for the lure to be counted among the cool does not just sit in Mr. Raushenbush’s heart. It sits in ours.<>проверить популярность а
I’ve written some posts opposing US military intervention. This post has almost nothing to do with that topic.
The Eastern European Pro-Life Virus
Here is a story from Macedonia that was published earlier this month:
“A ‘virus’ of restrictive abortion legislation is spreading from Eastern Europe, health experts and rights campaigners have said, amid Church pressure and misguided government attempts to stop falling birth rates. Just weeks ago a new law was introduced in Macedonia tightening up relatively liberal abortion legislation which had been followed for more than 40 years. And last month, Lithuanian lawmakers gave initial approval to some of strictest abortion legislation in the world. Tighter abortion laws are also being considered in Russia and the Ukraine while the Georgian parliament is expected to debate abortion laws after the country’s Orthodox Church made calls in May for it to be banned. Critics say that some governments appear to be moving towards introducing total bans on the procedure. Bojan Jovanovski, executive director of the Health Education and Research Association (HERA) in Macedonia, told IPS: ‘What has happened here is not unique and is happening in a lot of countries, spreading like a virus from Eastern Europe westwards… What this law here will do in the short term is it will make it harder for women to get an abortion, because of the bureaucracy and hurdles they will face. This will possibly lead to them undergoing illegal abortions and the problems that brings with it. But its wider meaning is that it is a step towards more restrictive measures and, ultimately, a ban on abortions.’ In recent years Eastern Europe has witnessed a push, in many cases driven by socially dominant Churches, to reinforce or tighten abortion legislation and deter access to them.”
This is amazing news. If Russia was to truly stop most abortions in that country, it would have immense demographic consequences—arguably extremely positive consequences—for that country. As one via the United Nations as our proxy:
“Amid a surge of anti-gay violence and repression in several countries, the United Nations’ human rights office on Friday launched its first global outreach campaign to promote tolerance and greater equality for lesbians, gays, transgender people and bisexuals. Called Free & Equal, it’s an unprecedented effort by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to change public attitudes around the world on issues that have bitterly divided the U.N.’s own member states. The multi-pronged campaign — announced at a news conference in Cape Town, South Africa — will include videos and public-service announcements distributed through social media, a new website, a series of fact sheets, and engagement by celebrities well-known in different regions of the world. ‘Changing attitudes is never easy… It begins with often difficult conversations,” said Navi Pillay, the high commissioner for human rights. “And that is what we want to do with this campaign. Free & Equal will inspire millions of conversations among people around the world and across the ideological spectrum.’… According to the human rights office, at least 76 countries still criminalize consensual, same-sex relationships, and discrimination against LGBT people is widespread in many other nations. Less than half of the U.N.’s 193 member states have gone on record in support of gay rights and in opposition to laws criminalizing homosexuality. In March 2011, for example, only 85 states signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council expressing their concern at violence and human rights violations against LGBT people. Radcliffe said funding for Free & Equal is being provided by outside contributors, and is not reliant on U.N. funds, thus skirting any possible opposition from U.N. members who oppose gay-rights activism.”
So, at the same time the so-called US Department of Justice has used its resources to force a California school district to “accommodate” a girl who calls herself a boy—by, among other things, allowing her to use the boy’s restroom—the American elite (perhaps with some Western European help—is financing a propaganda war on what remnants of Biblical sexual ethics exist around the world.
“Putin has embraced the Russian Orthodox Church, and his government has introduced various social programs to promote young couples having more children. Putin has also pushed through another law banning gay foreign couples from adopting Russian children. All U.S. adoptions of Russian children have since been banned. In response, the U.S. state department issued a travel warning for homosexuals in Russia. ‘Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is widespread in Russia, as harassment, threats, and acts of violence have been targeted at LGBT individuals. Government officials have been known to make derogatory comments about LGBT persons,’ the warning said.”
Americans and others are pushing back however they can. Boycotting vodka (I’d be amazed if local Russian consumers cannot make up for the slack) and threatening to boycott the winter Olympics. Ad Age reported,
“Led by President Vladimir Putin, Russia has taken a host of actions of late, including passing one measure that bans ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations.’ The controversy could cause headaches for U.S. corporations linked to the 2014 Winter Olympics that will be hosted in Sochi, Russia. In a column in the New York Times this week, actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein called on the U.S. Olympic Committee to demand retraction of Russia’s laws ‘under the threat of boycott.’”
Who Is The Evil Empire Now?
There are lots of reasons to doubt Putin’s character. It is easy for me to wish death upon him just for the Smolensk Crash, apart from all his other alleged sins or crimes. But it is naive to think that a good person could gain the reins of power in almost any current government, not least that of the United States of America.
As a public figure, Putin is leading Christian resistance to the United State’s ruling class’ hard push for sexual perversity–for a pagan planet. If he improves Russia’s horrible abortion ethic, and does so as part of a general Eastern European revival of a pro-life practice, then speculations about his personal character are beside the point. Russia becomes a new Constantinople working to hold back the hordes of infidels howling to conquer them.
There may be good reason to expect Christendom to revive south of the equator. Perhaps Russia’s prominence will be temporary. But even so, I think that temporary protection would be important and helpful.
American Evangelicals need to pray for it. With Christianity spreading in China, the whole world may change in ways we can’t easily envision. Think of China and Russia giving aid and support to Kenya in resisting Obama’s culture war.
So stop calling Russia Red. Practice a new phrase: Holy Russia.
And whether or not that happens, be sure of one thing. The United States is the Evil Empire. We Christians are the enslaved masses that Sam and Frodo saw as they approached the Dark Tower. Our taxes (which, lest anyone misunderstand me, God says we should pay) are supporting the Eye.
There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’Abraham Kuyper
I’ve written some posts opposing US military intervention. This post has almost nothing to do with that topic.
