18Sep 2024 by Post

Key Tenets of Marxism VS America’s Philosophical Foundations

Apologetics, Christianity, Free Thinking Ministries, government, Karl Marx, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Marxism, Politics, Tim Stratton
I’ve been fascinated by Marxism since my parents first told me about the Cold War we were living in when I was almost 10-years-old (1983). I remember asking them why the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons aimed at us. After my parents reassured me that we had just as many nuclear missiles aimed back at them — ensuring that they will not use these weapons against us (peace through strength) — they explained it to me like I was 10-years-old (because I was). While not using these exact words, my parents basically told me that the Soviet Union was based upon a philosophy called Marxism which is logically incompatible with America’s theological and philosophical foundations. This sparked a desire to learn more about our fundamental disagreements. I wanted to know…
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11Sep 2024 by Post

What If I Don’t Like Either Candidate?

Apologetics, Christianity, cultural apologetics, Gospel, Harris, How should Christians vote, How would Jesus Vote?, John Ferrer, Legislating Morality, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Trump, Who Should I vote for?
If you’re like me, this upcoming election feels like a choice between which electric outlet to jab a fork into. I’m not a big fan of either candidate. It may be tempting to just sit-out this election. But we shouldn’t give up that easily. This November, you won’t be voting for a pastor, or a personality. You’re just voting for a president either. You’re voting for a package deal. We’re going to get the president and everything that comes with them. So, we owe it to ourselves to look past their personality and consider the rest of the caravan that’s coming along with them. Here are eight reasons why you and I should still vote in this election even if we don’t like either candidate. If You Won’t Vote for…
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09Sep 2024 by Post

The Scandal of Elite Evangelical Compromise

academia, Apologetics, Big Eva, Bill Dembski, BillDembski.Sustack.com Shepherds for Sale, Christian culture, Christianity, Evangelical, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Megan Basham
A blogger I read regularly alerted me to Megan Basham’s new book Shepherds for Sale, subtitled How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda. It was released [at the] end of July. I was intrigued by the book because it claimed to be exposing compromise infecting many evangelical elites, especially among Southern Baptists. As it is, she is a Southern Baptist, and for over a decade I had moved in that world both at the more liberal Baylor University (the “largest Baptist university in the world”) and then at two of the main Southern Baptist seminaries (in Louisville and in Ft. Worth). Baylor president Robert Sloan had hired me in 1999 to found and run an intelligent design think tank (the Michael Polanyi Center). The backlash from Baylor faculty was intense,…
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02Sep 2024 by Post

Voting as a Kingdom Ambassador

abortion, Apologetics, Christian Nationalism, Christianity, cultural apologetics, FreeThinkingMInistries, Gospel, How should Christians vote, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Politics, Tito Santiago
During the presidential elections there are many voices “crying out in the wilderness,” as it were, proclaiming all sorts of weird ideas. One of those ideas is the thought that within this seemingly hostile and divided political and cultural climate even within the church, Christians who hold to a particular view are looking to crown a new political messiah and usher in some sort of a new kingdom. Voting for President, not a Messiah I cannot speak for all who claim to follow Jesus Christ. Perhaps there is some odd and rare breed of believers who sees the presidency as salvation. I do not! So I will speak for myself as to how I view the privilege and honor of voting not only as an American citizen, but more importantly…
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28Aug 2024 by Post

The Ethics of AI in Writing

Academic Integrity, Apologetics, Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, cheating, Christianity, Gospel, John Ferrer, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, plagiarism, publishing, Writing ethics
When it comes to Artificial Intelligence, I’m a luddite. I’m analog over digital. Forget Pandora® and Spotify® or even CD’s. Vinyl LP’s rule them all. I grew up playing outside, climbing trees, chasing things, reveling over sticks – not joysticks, just sticks. If they look like a sword or a gun, even better. I’m a Labrador retriever, but literate. I have the tech-savvy of your average canine too. That’s because I’m Gen X. I was raised before the interweb, before social media and Netflix. I remember Atari, Nintendo, and Sega, and Alladin’s Palace. I slogged through the dial-up era. I even met my wife on Myspace. Rock on! When Sunday comes, I actually leave my house to go to church! I turn my phone off to listen to the sermon.…
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26Aug 2024 by Post

In the Gospels, Jesus is Pro-Life

abortion, Apologetics, bioethics, ChristianConcern.com, Christianity, Gospel, Jesus, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, New Testament, pro-choice, pro-life, Sean Redfearn
When you encounter Jesus in the gospels, it’s not hard to see why the world would be a better place if everyone was more like him. And in the gospels, Jesus is pro-life. In fact, life is the issue for Jesus. ‘Life’ is why Jesus came into the world. The Bible is About Life The Bible’s most famous verse even says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV) Humans weren’t originally created to face death (Romans 5:12), and Jesus hates death – that’s why he conquered it (Romans 6:9; 2 Timothy 1:10). Jesus’ mission is to bring dead people to life (Mark 10:45; John 5:24; 1 Timothy 1:15)…
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07Aug 2024 by Post

The New Cultural Christianity

Apologetics, Christianity, Culture, FreeThinking Ministries, Gospel, Josh Klein, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, LGBTQ, Nietzsche, Post Christian, Progressive Christianity, Ubermensch
A few months ago I wrote an article on the West’s move towards a post-Christian culture (Post-Christianity: What’s That?). Since the article’s publication at least two prominent atheists decried the fall of Christianity in the West. One claims to have converted to Christianity (Ayaan Hirsi Ali) and the other maintains atheism but embraces “cultural Christianity” (Richard Dawkins).[1] They, along with fellow atheists Bret Weinstein and Tom Holland recognize that the fall of the West will be accomplished with the dismantling of the Church. The New Atheists of twenty years ago assumed that logic, reason, and science would provide the basis for a moral society as it abandoned God and moved into the post-Christian era. Much to their chagrin, however, this has not been the case. Dawkins began to recognize the threat radical…
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05Aug 2024 by Post

Character Matters

Annie Brown, Apologetics, character, Christian Ethics, Christianity, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, morality, SES, Southern Evangelical Seminary, Virtue
Character and morality often intersect in their definitions. Even for the non-Christians, all people are given a moral compass from the time of our birth. As image bearers of God, a person is able to recognize right from wrong. Though these matters have been declared more subjective over time, murder is still deemed hateful by the large majority. Stealing is considered a crime by most law-abiding citizens. There are obvious signs that either positively or negatively allude to one’s character. Character Defined Character, defined by the world, is commonly based on what is done rather than what is believed. A person is considered morally good by the things that they do for themselves or someone else. For instance, donating to multiple charities and volunteering at a homeless shelter may lead…
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29Jul 2024 by Post

Is Social Justice Hijacking the Gospel?

Alisa Childers, Apologetics, Christianity, Deconstruction, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Progressive Christianity, Social justice, Theology and Christian Apologetics
Progressive Christian blogger and author John Pavlovitz wrote,  “We believe that social justice is the heart of the Gospel…” Is he right? And what exactly is social justice? I recently posted an article in which I described Progressive Christian churches as swapping out the gospel for social justice. I got a lot of pushback on this point, but I believe that most of this pushback comes down to a misunderstanding of words. Some are quick to say, “Social justice is good!” or “Social justice is bad!” without giving any nuanced thought to what the phrase actually means. Recently, I listened to a Mortification of Spin podcast episode called “Hijacking Social Justice,” that brilliantly dove into the history and meaning of the phrase and how it interacts with the gospel. It inspired this article, and I highly recommend listening to it. What is Social Justice?  Justice is a strong and…
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01Jul 2024 by Post

Apologetics and Politics

Apologetics, Arguments for God, Christianity, ethics, FreeThinking Ministries, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Politics, Reasonable Faith, Tim Stratton
How should we live?How should we think?How should we vote? Are these questions with objectively right or wrong answers? That is to say, is it true — apart from human opinion — that humanity ought to live, think, and even vote in a certain manner? Some Questions that Need Answering If it is not objectively right or wrong to live, think, or vote in a certain manner, then does anything really matter? Moreover, if it is objectively wrong to live, think, and vote in a certain manner — how would we know? After all, is how we ought to vote determined by the majority vote? That doesn’t seem right. Are these things merely based on your emotions or “how it makes you feel?” That doesn’t seem right either because, as Ben Shapiro often says “Facts don’t care about your feelings.” One…
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