Saturday, September 30, 2017

If You Can't Beat Them, Keep Attacking Them!


Many are the so-called Christians who seemingly are interested in proclaiming the truth, but in reality, all they do is embark upon a crusade against a particular doctrine. Nothing, it would seem, will dissuade them from what they see as a commission from God to right all the wrongs in the church. Take Reformed Theology as an example. There are few doctrines that draw as much criticism in our generation than the one that tells us that God is the decider—not man. And it is no wonder, for man's natural inclination is to want to have things his way--Burger King was on to something!


Saturday, September 16, 2017

Take Heed to the Doctrine


“If our doctrine be true, and our lives be wrong, how terrible is our sin! For then we have brought despite upon the truth itself. On the other hand, however, it is also very sad when men use the social graces which God has given them, and the moral momentum of a godly ancestry, to commend a message which is false. Nothing in the world can take the place of truth.”
J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism

One of the battles that the church of Christ has to wage in every generation is the battle for a pure doctrine. In today’s world, that is seemingly more important than it has been, perhaps more so than at any time in this country’s history. The hallmark of our current generation is the abandonment of doctrinal truth, or at the very least its neglect, at the expense of getting along and being “tolerant.” The modern church is awash in the attitude that our current generation has of overlooking truth in order to be more accepting. Witness the reaction from a so-called “evangelical” against the Nashville Statement (you can read the full article containing the quote here):


Saturday, September 2, 2017

The Chickens Come Home to Roost

Several months ago, I commented to a fellow church member one of the things that my generation, and seemingly every generation, is quick to forget: that all subsequent generations are, in large measure, a reflection of the previous ones. As the saying goes, nothing happens in a vacuum. If today's generation has grown up with a sense of entitlement and a very, very thin skin (think of “snowflakes” and their eternal aggrieved status!), it is due in large part to the fact that its ancestors promoted such thinking.