21Nov 2023 by Post

Is it Biblical to Be a Gay Christian?

Christ alone, Culture CrossExamined, gay christian, identity, intelligentchristianfaith.com, John Ferrer, Same-Sex Attraction, sola Christus, theology
Imagine a porcupine. He’s waddling around with his long pointy quills. He’s harmless, even cute until he gets scared or offended. Then he becomes an angry pincushion. Now image this porcupine is giant-sized, like a dinosaur. He’s bumping into things, knocking things over, leaving huge piercing quills behind him as if marking his territory. People and animals just stay out of his way for fear of getting trampled, stabbed, or otherwise canceled. Now imagine this porcupine is hyper-sensitive. He’s reactive, easily offended, easily frightened, distrusting, and very aggressive when upset. Now imagine he’s rainbow colored and you’re tasked with giving this huge moody multi-colored pincushion a great big hug! That’s what it feels like answering the question: “Is it biblical to be a Gay Christian?” This is the kind of…
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13Nov 2023 by Post

Is Your Church a Personality Cult? Part 1

celebrity culture, church growth movement, Culture CrossExamined, exploitation, idolatry, intelligentchristianfaith.com, John Ferrer, leadership, narcissism, personality cult, practical theology, theology
Sometimes cults are easy to spot. Most everyone knows about the Jim Jones cult (People’s Temple), or David Koresh’s group in Waco, Texas (Branch Davidians). Those cults are easy to spot because doomsday theology and mass killing tend to make headlines. But some cults aren’t so easy to see. Personality cults can be hard to spot. When people call a religious group a “cult” it usually means one of two things. TWO TYPES OF CULTSType 1: Theological Cult – heretical theology deviating from core orthodox teachings of that religion. These cults spring from a parent-religion. Ex., Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses are cult offshoots of Christianity. Type 2: Sociological Cult – socially and psychologically dangerous practices like authoritarian and manipulative leadership, social isolation, abuse, threats, blackmail, “mind-control” etc. These may or may…
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16Oct 2023 by Post

The Danger of Promising Universal Salvation

4. Is the NT True?, Bobby Conway, Christianity, Christianity Still Makes Sense, Heaven, Hell, One Minute Apologist, salvation, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, unversalism
If you’re going to contend that universalism is true, i.e., the belief that everyone will eventually end up in heaven, then you best beware of the consequences of doing so. Evacuating a Dying Planet To illustrate. Imagine you live on a planet called Elpis (in Greek this means “hope” or “expectation”). You have been tasked with evacuating your entire civilization to another planet because of a life-threatening emergency. Due to an increasing level of CO2 in the atmosphere, ELPIS has limited time before there’s not enough oxygen to sustain life. So, you are developing a plan to transfer your fellow residents, via spaceships, to a safer environment. You’ve chosen a planet called Earth as your destination and have already been in touch with the humans there. The earthlings are happy…
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11Oct 2023 by Post

The Miracle of Man: Reflections on the Westminster Conference

biology, Brian Miller, digital camera, Emily Reeves, Engineering, Faith & Science, fine-tuning, genetics, Howard Glicksman, human beings, human vision, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, mankind, Mark Garcia, Michael Denton, Michael Egnor, paleontology, philosophy, physiology, Podcast, skeletal joints, Steve Laufman, The Miracle of Man, theology, vision, Westminster Conference on Science and Faith
Dr. Miller gives a brief summary of his talk on the fine-tuning of human vision. We’ll be doing a full episode with him on that subject soon. Source
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02Oct 2023 by Post

Dangerous Homefront, part 3: Correcting Prooftexts

1. Does Truth Exist?, 4. Is the NT True?, Bible, Bible study, biblical apologetics, hermeneutics, how to interpret the Bible, Interpretation, John Ferrer, prooftext, theology
In part 1 of this series we looked at prooftexts from the Old Testament. In part 2 we looked at prooftexts from the New Testament. At this point you may be wondering, “So what’s the big deal?” People will misinterpret things, so what? What’s the Big Deal? Clearly, misinterpretation occurs often within the Church. Does that mean that the church is apostate or heretical? Not really, but it does mean that we make mistakes. Many of these mistakes go unnoticed and never cause any real damage. But other mistaken interpretations can sink in, take root, and spring up as dangerous beliefs and bad practices. Consider how many people have watched a loved one pass away, even though they prayed in groups for God to heal them, and, this unmet expectation…
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25Sep 2023 by Post

Meet Robot Jesus

Culture CrossExamined, exploitation, idolatry, John Ferrer, Robot Jesus, Satan, Smart phone app, theology
Have you talked with Jesus yet today? No, I’m not talking about your morning prayers. I’m talking about the new Text-With-Jesus app. This is a downloadable smartphone app that will put you in a text-message conversation with an AI simulation of Jesus, and other biblical characters. You’re basically talking to a robot programmed to say things that you’d expect to hear from Jesus, or Jonah, or Moses, or Matthew, or even Satan himself. The app is free, but for $2.99 you can purchase access to the Satan-character and converse with an AI version of Lucifer himself. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that the grace-based (free) version features Jesus, but you have to sell a little bit of your soul to talk to the prince of darkness. Is this APP…
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18Sep 2023 by Post

Is teaching kids about God child abuse?

Apologetics for Parents, critical thinking, Education, https://shandafulbright.com/, indoctrination, logic, online Christian courses, Richard Dawkins, Shanda Fulbright, theology
People always tell me not to look at the comment section of a social media post. I didn’t listen. We just promoted the new kid’s curriculum Let’s Get Real: Examining the Evidence for God, based on Turek and Geisler’s best seller:  I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. I anticipated backlash. I know the drill. You post something about God and the evidence that points to His existence and suddenly every atheist saddles up behind their keyboard to tell you why you’re wrong. What I didn’t expect was to be accused of child abuse. Is teaching kids about God child-abuse? This isn’t a new accusation against Christians. In Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion, he asserts that religious indoctrination is child abuse. However, Nicholas Humphrey, a neuropsychologist from Cambridge…
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11Sep 2023 by Post

Kepler’s Pursuit of a Mathematical Cosmology

Andrew McDiarmid, astronomy, Center for Science and Culture, Colorado Christian University, cosmology, Discovery Institute, Faith & Science, Harmonices Mundi, ID The Future, Johannes Kepler, mathematics, Melissa Cain Travis, Mysterium Cosmographicum, physics, Physics, Earth & Space, Podcast, science history, theology, Thinking God’s Thoughts, Tycho Brahe
Dr. Travis tracks the progression of Kepler’s ideas to show how he became a key figure in the transition from ancient astronomy to a true celestial physics. Source
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21Aug 2023 by Post

Dangerous Homefront, part 2: NT Prooftexts we Know and Love

1. Does Truth Exist?, 4. Is the NT True?, Bible, Bible study, biblical apologetics, hermeneutics, how to interpret the Bible, Interpretation, John Ferrer, New Testament, prooftext, theology
In part 1 of this series, we looked at a few Old Testament passages that people often misinterpret. In part 2 we shift to the New Testament. It’s worth noting that sometimes the error is just an innocent mistake. It’s not always from bad intentions, or false teachers, or heretical theology. Sometimes there are malicious forces at work here, but often it’s just well-meaning people getting confused about what the Bible says. The list of verses below is just a sample of commonly misinterpreted texts. There are many more too choose from, but I’m willing to bet that if you are a church-goer you’ve heard at least one of these misinterpretations before. Matthew 7:1 Judge not, lest ye be judged. This is perhaps the most quoted verse of Scripture surpassing…
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07Aug 2023 by Post

Dangerous Homefront, part 1: OT Prooftexts we Know and Love

1. Does Truth Exist?, 4. Is the NT True?, Bible, Bible study, biblical apologetics, hermeneutics, how to interpret the Bible, Interpretation, John Ferrer, prooftext, theology
Years ago, on a trip to Washington DC I found myself going through a few different airports and learning a life lesson along the way. The flights led me through several security checks. I had no problem with the baggage scans and the metal detectors till I got to LaGuardia airport in New York. I was stopped. I had forgotten about a small pocketknife on my key-chain. Not being a terrorist, or John Wick, I don’t think of a one-inch blade as a weapon. My pocketknife was confiscated. It was no big loss, but it was enough to teach me something. One airport let that pocketknife slip by unnoticed. But in New York they spotted it instantly. In New York they knew the threat of terrorism. Their sensitivities were keen,…
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