Flag and Cross

Does no one understand that you can't stand for the flag and kneel for the cross at the same time?

If we assume (for the sake of argument this dumb pairing that adorns hats, t-shirts, car bumpers etc.) - then I suggest we put it to them and turn their boast into a dilemma. You cannot have it both ways. The two kingdoms are antithetical with different goals and values.

Another New Calvinist Apostate

https://julieroys.com/how-shannon-harris-kissed-biblical-womanhood-goodbye/

This article is about the wife of Josh Harris and with her story the sad circle of apostasy is now complete. Both of them have abandoned Christianity in what is another mark against New Calvinism testifying to its often superficial and shallow nature.

Christo-Trumpism is not just Fascism - it's Antichrist

I keep seeing hats, shirts, signs, and stickers proclaiming Jesus is my Savior and Trump is my President. It's becoming a basis for fellowship, a call sign for people to strike up conversation in restaurants and in lines.

Inbox: Operation Xmas Child

I've been asked about this before and it has actually been on my mind as of late. Having visited several churches lately, I keep encountering Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, a 'ministry' run by Samaritan's Purse – one of Franklin Graham's cash cows. Between Samaritan's Purse, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and his other endeavours, Mr. Graham pulls in well over a million dollars a year.

Evangelicals, Grace, and Baptism

https://www.christianpost.com/news/nfl-legend-jim-kelly-gets-baptized-god-changed-my-life.html

Alas, this story was troublesome on many points. A few things can be gleaned from it.

A Colson Anniversary

https://www.breakpoint.org/50-years-ago-chuck-colson-was-granted-eternal-life/

The memory of Charles 'Chuck' Colson (1931-2012) is already starting to fade away. He was of another generation and one that seems increasingly distant. From time to time BreakPoint will replay one of his old commentaries and they did so recently as 2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of his conversion – except I continue to argue the man was a fraud.

The False Church Baptising the World's Wisdom

Listening to American Family Radio (AFR) I was struck by something 'Bishop' EW Jackson said. When I'm down in a certain area I can pick up AFR and it seems like his show comes on while I'm in the car eating my lunch.

Christian Celebrities and their Fraudulent Testimonies

Why do I have to keep hearing about Kathy Ireland? Why are these people celebrated for their supposed faith? The woman became famous in the 1980's for taking her clothes off. Tame by today's standards, this was a more innocent time and a publication like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition was a big deal for teenage boys and young men – that was a lot of skin to lust over. It wouldn't even grab anyone's attention today but for years that magazine's annual release was a cultural moment and viewed as scandalous by anyone with a moral compass.

Lausanne-Style Evangelicalism in Northern Italy

https://evangelicalfocus.com/europe/19502/noi-churches-in-northern-italy-united-for-largest-evangelistic-event

In contrast to the claims made in the article, one could wish that anything associated with Billy Graham and his legacy actually involved a clear gospel presentation. Instead, what the audience received was undoubtedly the Finneyite Altar Call message – the cheap grace gospel of the Evangelical movement and it's affirmation of worldliness in the form of watered down faith, tepid repentance, and its Dominionist imperative.

The Mastriano Campaign: From Sacrilege to Blasphemy

An Associated Press story ran in Friday's paper on 'Contrasts in faith' in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race. The article echoed a point that many others have already made – that Doug Mastriano's political rallies are being blended with what must be described as an Evangelical-style worship service.

Locke and Hall: Dominionism Gone to Seed and the Formal Rejection of New Testament Doctrine and Ethics

We already knew Jordan 'JD' Hall was far afield in terms of New Testament Christianity. For him Christianity is a confused construct of America, guns, and some kind of truncated cowboy cheap-grace gospel. To practice one's piety you spread spin and lies and do so by means of creating a click-bait factory. When I see the posters promoting filth like 'God, Guns, and Trump', I think of JD Hall and the poor lost souls that follow him.

Greg Laurie: The Court Evangelical and His Gospel

Some coverage was given to Laurie's recent evangelical crusade in Idaho. It is claimed that over 3,000 people were saved. Laurie, a court Evangelical within Trumpite circles utilises the 'Invitation System' methodology popularised in the twentieth century by Billy Graham. It was built upon earlier models developed by the likes of Moody and Finney.

Confused Ethics and Evil Library Displays in Pennsylvania

Northwestern Pennsylvania has been the site of a recent controversy that is starting to appear in some national media outlets. A school board member referred to a pro-sodomite library display as evil and as you might imagine this generated a significant backlash prompting both support and calls for his removal.

The Judaizing and Anti-Covenantal Nature of so-called Sacred Architecture

http://www.breakpoint.org/2017/07/made-for-beauty-2/

This represents another sad instance of the Colson crowd's faulty understanding of the gospel. Their grasp of Scripture is defective and in this case... painfully on display.

People are being converted by architecture? Apparently the Word is not required! Apparently being inspired by stonework and having a rapturous experience is enough to lead someone to conversion?

American Evangelicalism: A Death Cult

http://www.freemansperspective.com/military-evangelical-complex/

There are some very flawed views (of the Libertarian variety) in this piece and yet in general it is correct regarding the way in which the military has formed a nexus with American Evangelical culture.

Evangelical Rejections of Sola Scriptura, Guns and the Loss of Gospel Ethics

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/jerry-falwell-jrs-troubling-remarks-on-guns/419019/

This indictment all too well demonstrates the bankruptcy of American Evangelical claims regarding authority. To their shame, this secular author calls out and rightly identifies figures such as Falwell Jr. and DeMint as rejecting Scripture as their doctrinal foundation. He's right in arguing they have utterly abandoned it and in fact did so long ago. This article more or less restricts the conversation to violence, retaliation and guns, but the cancer which infects American Evangelicalism is in fact terminal and has metastasised to almost every aspect of doctrine, thought and action.

Exiles in America

"Now we feel like exiles in our own land..."

I've heard numerous variations on this phrase in recent days. This has been said in reference to the Supreme Court ruling on homosexual marriage.

A Rebuttal of False Claims Regarding Two Kingdom Theology and Non-violence in the Face of Tyranny

Since I am called 'ranter', I will indeed rant. Sometimes it's called for.

It is a complete and malicious falsehood that somehow the theology of non-violence, the application of the Sermon on the Mount to ethics, that the separatist form of Two Kingdom thinking means the Church just goes to sleep and allows the Hitler's of the world to rise up. I was accused of this again just the other day and I have to say I find this sort of accusation to be nothing less than astonishing. Nothing makes me feel like I'm living in some Orwellian distorted nightmare than for people to accuse me of being and allowing what they in fact are.

The Spiritual War in Africa and The Enemy Within

Whether you think churches should be taxed or not is to miss the salient point. This story is heartbreaking.

http://af.reuters.com/article/idAFL6N0S532020141013?sp=true

Here's the slideshow that goes with it:

http://www.reuters.com/article/slideshow/idUSKCN0I104B20141012#a=1

We are engaged in a true war, a spiritual war and the enemy is among us. The enemies of the Kingdom are enthroned within the Body of Christ, the Temple of God. They are counterfeits making merchandise of God's people- both their earthly assets and their souls.

The Fall of the House of Gothard

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/02/28/conservative-leader-bill-gothard-placed-administrative-leave-following-abuse-allegations/

Very interesting. The article also mentions Doug Phillips of Vision Forum. Phillips is the son of the late Howard Phillips a name well known in Theonomic and Christian Right circles.