We’ve Moved

This blog has moved to it’s own domain name. Visit the Reformed Fundamentalist Website now.

Blog Of The Day

What Is Truth by Kent Brandenburg is a great blog if you’re looking for some good reading on Fundamentalism and various other isseues.

The Role Of The Father In The Family

I recently was pointed to the “Patriarchy Movement” by a person on another website. I found the information that I was able to find on it rather interesting. The question here is, is this Patriarchy harmful to Christian families, or to the church? Or is it beneficial?

Here is a link to a number of sermons that are against the “Patriarchy Movement.”

And here is a link to a lengthy article on Patriarchy. I’ll post some snippets here.

The Christian family, especially the role of the father, has been under relentless attack by the forces of secular humanism. Egalitarianism, though arising originally in a legitimate desire to allow all men, regardless of race, to enjoy the benefits of Christian civilization, eventually came to enthrone the will of the individual and to decry ANY differences-including biological ones. In the past fifty years women were “liberated” from the home and promised that they could “have it all” including family, career and autonomy if they adopted humanist values. However, humanism has largely destroyed the American family; birth rates plummeted to sub-zero replacement levels, divorce rates skyrocketed, and millions of children, the victims of broken homes, are now at risk of mutigenerational poverty, crime, and drug addiction; in effect becoming cultural parasites.

First, the name itself often leads some Christians to have a negative disposition before they have even considered the position. The word “patriarchy” conjures up images of stern, Old Testament figure (perhaps with a long white beard), ruling his family with an iron hand, squelching individual initiative, oppressing women and micromanaging every aspect of his children’s lives. Since most will reject that image, we then also reject the concept, without actually evaluating what a “patriarchy” might be and whether or not it is something of which God might approve.

Until the twentieth century, Americans almost universally held to this doctrine of representation in some form or the other. The reason why women were not allowed to vote had nothing to do with women being considered “inferior” or “too emotional” (these values arose during the Victorian era and were themselves theologically and socially deviant) but rather because the husband and father was ASSUMED to represent the family to the broader community. By definition, there could only be ONE representative of the family just as there could only be ONE representative of the Human Race to God!

In regards to a woman’s right to vote; if husband and wife are truly “one flesh” and the husband is doing his duty to represent the family to the wider community, then what PRACTICAL benefit does allowing women to vote provide? If husband and wife agree on an issue, then one has simply doubled the number of votes; but the result is the same. Women’s voting only makes a difference when the husband and wife disagree; a wife, who does not trust the judgment of her husband, can nullify his vote. Thus, the immediate consequence is to enshrine the will of the individual OVER the good of the family thus creating divisions WITHIN the family.

For example, biblical patriarchy never excuses, justifies or motivates godly men to devalue, denigrate or relegate godly women to “second-class” status in the home. Women are NOT inferior to men even if they are subordinate in their roles. Husband and wife are to be “one flesh;” which is more than a quaint euphemism for marital intimacy but rather a spiritual union of two individuals (1 Cor 6:16-17). Granted the wife is to respect her husband and submit to him (1 Ptr 3:1) but the husband is also required to treat her with grace, kindness and respect granting her honor as a joint-heir of the Kingdom, lest God refuse to hear his prayers (1 Ptr 3:7). In pagan patriarchy, the wife was often little more than a domestic servant and child-bearer (as in ancient Greece, the “cradle” of “democracy”) but in the biblical view, God praises the godly woman for her industriousness, creativity, aesthetics and business acumen (Pvbs 31:10ff). A wise man, understanding his duty as representative, will therefore lawfully utilize all the assets of the family, including his wife’s wisdom, gifts and concerns, for the common good of the family.

Now the question is, is this style of Patriarchy Biblical? Is it a Biblical model the family? Is it incorrect, and if it is, why?

Blog Of The Day

New Feature added to my blog posts, I’ll frequently be linking to a blog of a friend, or just some random person that I sometimes read the posts of.

Here’s an internet friend. This blog is “The Moore The Merrier.”

Evolution Is True! Sort of…

Sort of. Catchy title anyway right? Ha!

Micro-evolution is true. Macro-evolution, not so much. What’s the difference you ask? Micro-evolution is small changes that occur within a population of beings(humans, animals, plants, what-have-you). These changes are mutations, “natural selection,” or genetic drift. Micro-evolution occurs at or below the species level. Macro-evolution however, occurs above the species level. In case you don’t remember high school biology, I’ll give you a quick breakdown of the pyramid of life(I just made that up right now, cool eh?). It’s normally called the Taxonomic Rank. Here’s how it breaks down.

Domain-Domain is the highest category of organisms. There are three basic domains, that of single-celled organisms(microscopic), unicellular organisms(microscopic), and then eukarotes, organisms that have complex cell structure like plants, animals, and people.

Kingdom-Kingdom is the second highest category. Within the kingdom that plants, animals, and humans are in, there are five basic categories(some claim there are six). Plants, Animals, Fungi, Chromista(Algea), and Protozae, which are unicellular eukarotes.

Phylum-Phylum is the next category, which contains the many different types of plants, animals and such. there are approximately 36 animal phyla.

Class-Class contains all the different classifications under which we all would be. For example, Mammal is a class. Under Mammal, we have humans, dogs, cats, and bears. Under Reptile, we have lizards, alligators, and crocodiles. Under birds we have eagles, condors, and sparrows. And so on and so forth.

Order-An example of Order would be “Carnivore.”

Family-Families in biology would be different groupings of specimens within an order. For example, under the order of Carnivore, we would have family like Canidea.

Genus-A Genus is a group of related species within a family.

Species-Species is sometimes difficult to define. A species is most commonly defined as being a group of organisms that can breed fertile offspring.

So a simple demonstration of the Taxonomical Rank would go like this:
Domain-Kingdom-Phylum-Class-Order-Family-Genus-Species
Eukarotes-Animal-Chordata-Mammalia-Carnivora-Canidea-Canis Lupus-Wolf

Now, micro-evolution would be changes at the species level, in the above example, that would the wolf. Now, we know that there are different types of wolves. In the United States, we have the Gray Wolf, which is the largest member of the Canidea Family. Now, within the Canus Lupus family itself, we have several genus, within those genus, we have species, including the Gray Wolf, and following the Gray Wolf we have the Red Wolf, the Dingo, the Dog, and the New Guinea Singing Dog. There are up to 38 subspecies of the Gray Wolf throughout the world. How did there get to be so many subspecies? Well, that answer probably lies mostly in genetics. Wolves have been known to mate with coyotes, however this is very rare. This also calls into question whether or not wolves and coyotes are actually separate species. The offspring of such a union are larger than a coyote, but smaller than a wolf. Which could definitely account for variations within the Canis Lupus family such as the Red Wolf and the Dog. Because there are various species and subspecies that are capable of intermingling and creating fertile offspring, these offspring can create children that become a different subspecies. Now, within all these differences being made, there are genetic differences going on. This can result in mutations, that can create different different species that are capable of thriving in environments that others possibly couldn’t thrive in. It would also result in creating subspecies that are completely incapable of surviving in the wild, such as the Shih Tzu(I’m sure that’s not spelled right). We can look at creatures like the Great Dane, English Mastiff, the German Shepherd or Jack Russell Terrier, and see how intermingling of species, genetic mutation, and environment can create different creatures that are all from the same species. These are examples of micro-evolution.

Macro-evolution however, would be a change above the species level. Such as the evolutionary hypothesis that dinosaurs evolved into birds by slowly developing feathers. According to evolutionists, micro-evolution creates so many changes over time, that eventually one species can morph into another. In reality, there’s not any proof that macr-evolution has taken place. There’s guesses, but no real proof. It’s hypothesized that dinosaurs evolved into birds, but again, there’s no transitional fossils that have held up under serious scrutiny.

Staying Happy As A Single-With A Message For Married Couples

What’s the key to staying happy as a single, particularly a Christian single? Don’t ask me, I haven’t found it yet. I still sometimes get down about the fact that three-fifths of my younger siblings have all gotten married before me. And yeah, being single for so long in your life kinda gets old. If you’ve been single for any length of time, you’ve probably heard “So when are you going to get married?” or “Have you found anybody yet?” Yeah, that gets old after a while. And annoying. Especially when your parents are like “we need to find you a girl and get you married off.” It’s really not that easy you know. Especially when your church doesn’t have any singles. How bad does that stink eh? And if you do find someone that you may be interested in, you have to figure out where they stand on issues that you deem important. Side issues have some importance, but not as important as say, where they stand on doctrinal issues, etc. And yeah, if you’re a more modest or old-fashioned style dresser, you want somebody who’s there with you. There are lots of reasons that folks are single.

So while we’re single, what do we do? Well, sitting around and moping about your singleness probably isn’t going to help. And neither is running after the first gal/guy who comes along so strongly that they can smell the stench of desperation dripping off of you.

Some people choose to take their time of singleness, and turn it into “fun time.” In other words, they sow their wild oats. Drugs, drunkeness, pre-marital sex, and other activities look inviting to them. They decide to settle down when they get married, but when they finally get married, they carry baggage from all these sinful activities. And this baggage carries over into the married lives, and causes disharmony, distrust, and other issues that but for the grace of God would destroy the marriages of Christians(and many times do destroy marriages).

What does Scripture say for the single Christian to do with their life while they wait? The Apostle Paul gives us some instruction in 1 Corinthians 7.

1Co 7:32-35 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: (33) But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. (34) There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. (35) And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

Singles are able to serve the Lord without the distraction of families that are dependent upon them for survival. While Christians are single, they ought to use their talents to serve the Body of Christ. They ought to find a way to do something in the local church. And let’s face it, the busier that we are as singles, the less time we have to worry about our singleness and wondering if we’ll ever get married. Now it’s not really easy to do that, I know. Especially since those of us in more conservative and Fundamental churches are more likely to have some concern expressed about our singleness by individuals in our congregations. And while we serve God, it’s likely that our spouse will come along when we least expect it. Point is, for the rest of my single friends(and acquaintances, and my three enemies over there), we need to stay busy, we need to serve God, and we need to quit bemoaning our singleness. We need to accept it, trust God, and move on.

And just as an afterthought, staying pure until marriage is not a bad thing. I know for us guys, it’s hard to talk about remaining pure at our jobs(if we work in a secular environment). You tend to get made fun of that way. Other guys don’t understand it, they think you’re weird. And they’ll try to convince you that having sex isn’t that big of a deal. Just the other night, one of the guys at work tried to talk me into going to a “gentleman’s club” with him and some of the other guys. When I responded negatively to that idea, he asked me why, since it wasn’t like I would be having sex. It’s hard for some people to realize that remaining pure not just in the sense of intercourse but also in other areas can be a good thing. It’s harder for guys in our society than it is for girls. But it’s hard for girls too, I won’t deny that. Oddly enough, I’ve had some unsaved guys express privately to me that they wished that they had at least waited longer, or even until they had gotten engaged or married. Guys and Girls, when you think of it, pray for your future spouse, even if you haven’t met them yet. Pray that they will resist temptation. And pray for yourself, that if they haven’t, you can still love them and not hold it over them because you waited.

It’s okay to hope for marriage, and to pray for the day to come. It’s okay to look forward to finding that special someone. It’s okay to want and desire that special companionship that comes with marriage. But don’t make it the overriding theme of your life. Don’t become known as the single that won’t shut up about being single.

Now a special message for married couples:
GET OFF OUR BACKS!!!! Stop bothering us about when we’re going to get married. Instead of making that such a big deal, encourage singles in your church to get involved. Sponsor a cook-out at your home for singles. Pray for them, encourage them in their day-to-day lives.

Christian Music

Music can be a bit of a touchy subject in Christian circles, especially in Fundamental Baptist circles. What constitutes good Christian Music? And especially, what constitutes good Christian music for church services? Now, I could be considered by some as too liberal in my music. As far as church music, I love hymns, country gospel, southern gospel, and some CCM. However, there’s very little CCM that I enjoy. And I can’t get too into some southern or country Gospel.
My personal music tastes as far as church music tends to reject music that is too loud, too rocky, or too repetitious. Much of CCM is theological fluff, and too repetitious, even if you reformat it just to be played on the piano or a guitar. And if there’s anything that I hate more than too much repetition in singing, it’s songs that are theological fluff. Allow me to post a video that explains this a bit more eloquently than I can.

Now, not all CCM is theological fluff. Some CCM songs contain great theological truths that put them on the same level as the great hymns of the faith. These songs contain great truths about who God is, what His attributes are, and how Holy He is. Much of CCM is man-centered however, it’s about what “God has done for me” and never gets beyond that, or it focuses on “what I do with God.” And I think in some cases, this reflects where somebody is in their spiritual walk. If somebody never moves past the songs that are spiritual pablum into music that has theological depth, can it really be said that they are maturing as Christians? Now, we must be careful not to judge someone’s spirituality based on what type of Christian music they are listening to in their car. It could be that they are going through a rough time, and God is using that song in their life. Christian music can play a great part in the life of the believer, and so we must be careful that we are not listening to theological tripe.

An example of theological tripe that has made it into CCM music. The following song is done by Brooks and Dunn, a country music duo. But this song is now being covered by Contemporary Christian Musicians. The song is theologically inaccurate, and nothing more than tripe. You can watch the video below(it has rather soft music in comparison to a lot of CCM songs if you’re not sure if you should listen to it or not). If you’d prefer not to watch the video, the lyrics can be found here.

In opposition to a song like the above, we have the song “In Christ Alone” which was written I believe by Keith Getty. This song is much more theological in nature. It’s lyrics contain great depth into who Christ is and what He did for us. Listen to it below, accompanied only by the piano, and read the lyrics here.

In Christ Alone stands in striking contrast to much of what is churned out by CCM musicians today. Of course, when many of the hymns were written, there were other songs put out during those times that were considered theological tripe and that did not stand the test of time. We do not today have the whole of the songs that were sung by Christians throughout the ages, but much of what we do have has stood the test of time and has proven itself to be an asset to the church. Of course, we do have some hymns that really need to be kicked out of the hymnal, since they are theological tripe. While perhaps having some value as folk songs, they don’t deserve to be in the hymnal. I’m sure you’ve heard the following song before. I don’t necessarily have a problem with the song for camp-meetings or what-not, but as a church song? What precisely is it’s value to the church that it gets included in a hymnal? Lyrics here.

In short, Christian Music should first and foremost be theologically correct. It should also contain theological depth, particularly when used for congregational singing. It probably shouldn’t be overly repetitious, as that’s just boring. I’ve watched people’s faces many times as we’ve sang a song that had 7 words sung 11 times, and they just look bored to tears. I know I am. I don’t want a congregational song that’s going to go on for seven and a half minutes because the song leader wants to keep going and going like the Energizer bunny. Use songs that are tried and true, and be wary of the newer music. Listen to it, and match it up to Scripture.

As a parting bonus, here’s one of my favorite hymns of all time. It’s sung by an English singer named Michael Ball here. This is a shorter version of the hymn, but nonetheless very beautiful.

Heretic Du Jour

Joyce Meyer is our Heretic Du Jour this week. Joyce Meyer is a Charismatic speaker and author, who has a wide audience in the United States. While she is viewed by many as being a great speaker, it is obvious from her own words that she is a false teacher. Many defend her either because of Biblical ignorance, or blind loyalty. Because her own words condemn her, I feel it unnecessary to post a full rebuttal here at this time.

Joyce Meyer, like Kenneth Copeland, subscribes to the concept of “little gods.” That is to say, that she believes that humans are merely little gods, being the “same kind as God.” You can listen to her espousing this doctrine in the following video.

Joyce Meyer may have came ahold of this doctrine through false teacher Kenneth Copeland:

“Don’t be disturbed when people accuse you of thinking you are God … They crucified Me for claiming I was God. I didn’t claim that I was God; I just claimed that I walked with Him and that He was in Me. Hallelujah! That’s what you’re doing …” (“Take Time to Pray,” Believer’s Voice of Victory, 2/87, p. 9)

“You’re all God. You don’t have a God living in you; you are one! … When I read in the Bible where God tells Moses, ‘I AM,’ I say, ‘Yah, I am too!’” (“The Force of Love,” Tape BBC-56)

Kenneth Copeland also stated that that Adam was created in the “god-class” and that he was a very reproduction of God. Besides claiming that Adam looked exactly like God, Copeland also stated:

“He was not subordinate to God … [but] was walking as a god with the authority of a god. … What he said went. What he did, counted. [And when he] bowed his knee to Satan and put Satan up above him, then there wasn’t anything God could do about it, because a god had placed [Satan] there” (“The Force of Love,” tape #02-0028)

So it is possible that Joyce Meyer learned this teaching from Kenneth Copeland. However, Joyce Meyer’s heresy doesn’t stop there.
Joyce Meyer is a major proponent of Word of Faith theology. She, like Kenneth Copeland and Joel Osteen, teaches that Faith is a force, and that words are the container of the force. So when you speak words, you are speaking either blessing or cursing into your life. This doctrine teaches that we can literally change our own world, and that God Himself is bound by the words that we speak into our lives.

“Proverbs 18:21 teaches us that the power of life and death are in the tongue. That means we can speak life to dead circumstances, but it is a choice and decision not made with feelings as its basis. We can also speak death to sick circumstances. In other words, we can have something negative (sick) happen, and we can cause very serious problems by speaking negatively about it. It may go from sick to dead, especially if we repeatedly talk hopeless, negative, and downcast. On the other hand, we can choose to do what seems abnormal to the natural man. We can speak life to sick circumstances and see a complete recovery before Satan has an opportunity to gain a stronghold.”(Joyce Meyer, “Authority and Opposition,” audio tape 1236)”

“Words are containers that carry either creative or destructive power. Your mouth is a weapon—either for Satan or against him. We can help the devil bring destruction into our lives, or we can learn how to agree with God and experience His best for us.”(Joyce Meyer, “Your Mouth is a Weapon,” Life in the Word March 1997, p. 2)”

Mission To Amish People

If you watched the special on ABC News the other night, you may have caught the documentary “The Outsiders” which covered young Amish people who are trying out the “English lifestyle.” If you watched the show in it’s entirety, you may have caught a man who is a missionary to the Amish by the name of Joe Keim. Joe Keim has been a missionary to the Amish for several years. He and I spoke briefly about his work a few years ago. His own website can be found here. Joe Keim has a great ministry that attempts to reach the Amish, and help them cope with the outside world when they finally make the choice to leave. Pray for Joe Keim and those who work with his ministry, and for those that they are reaching through their ministry.

Georgia Law Prevents “Sex Offenders” From Participating In Church

A new Georgia law is preventing convicted “sex offenders” from participating in church activities. Anything from singing in the choir to preparing a meal in the kitchen is now off-limits to sex offenders in the state of Georgia.

ATLANTA — Five sex offenders filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming that a tough new Georgia law that bans them from volunteering at churches also robs them of their right to participate in religious worship.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Rome, claims the Georgia law effectively “criminalizes fundamental religious activities” for sex offenders and bars them from serving as a choir member, secretary, accountant or any other role with a religious organization.

“Even helping a pastor with Bible study or preparing a meal in a church kitchen will subject (sex offenders) to prosecution and imprisonment,” the complaint said.

To begin with, when did it become legal for the government to begin telling the church how they could conduct religious activities, and who could participate? The Constitution clearly prevents the state from interfering with religious activities, so long as there is no harm being done by religious activities. The big question here is “does the government have the right to legislate who and who may not engage in either voluntary or paid religious activities?”

Secondly, how exactly are we defining “sex offender” here? Are we limiting the religious activities of somebody who thirty years ago as a twenty year old boy had sex with a seventeen year old girl? Or how about somebody who didn’t even commit a sexual crime, but under highly idiotic laws gets slapped onto the sex offender registry anyway?

“Certain people on the sex offender registry should not work with children in a church setting or elsewhere,” says Sarah Geraghty, an attorney with the center. “But criminalizing the practice of religion for all 15,000 people on the registry will do more harm than good.”

The group’s lawsuit centers on five sex offenders who fear the new provision, which goes into effect July 1, will ban them from participating in many religious functions.

Among them is Omar Howard, a 33-year-old who is on the registry after he was convicted of false imprisonment of a minor during a 1993 burglary.

He got involved in a Christian ministry during his 14 year prison sentence and he became an active volunteer at several churches after his release last year. Now he’s not sure whether the law will allow him to help prepare for revival meetings, serve on church committees or sing in the choir, which he feels is part of his calling.

“What really can I do? This law cripples me. All I can do is go to sermons and leave. Why am I a threat to exercise my faith?” he said.

Let’s take a look at the crimes of some of the volunteers who would no longer be allowed to work in the church under this law.

Andrew Norton: Andrew Norton, now 25, is on the registry for a crime that occurred at age 12. Mr. Norton, his wife, and two daughters are devoutly religious. Mr. Norton volunteers as part of a ministry to spread word about his church and to pass along the message of Jesus. He is not involved in any church activity that involves unsupervised contact with minors.

Lori Collins: Lori Collins is on the registry for statutory rape. She completed the Georgia Department of Corrections Faith and Character Program and is now an ordained minister. Since Ms. Collins’ release from prison, she has been active in prison ministry outreach and regularly attends Mt. Paran Church of God. None of Ms. Collins’ volunteer activities with the church involve being around minors. She only wants to continue to serve God by spreading his Word and being active in the life of the Church.

Angela Coffey is on the registry for having sex with a 17-year-old student in her class. Ms. Coffey went to prison for this offense, and was released this year. She is a churchgoer and would like her daughter to be raised in the church. Because of the extremely harsh penalties imposed by this statute, she is fearful of participating in activities that might be considered “volunteering” such as Bible study, serving on church committees and helping to prepare for church gatherings.

Here are the crimes of the plaintiffs in this case.

Omar Howard-Never convicted of a sexual crime. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, false imprisonment, armed robbery, and other crimes related to a burglary. Because one of the individuals who was falsely imprisoned was a minor, he is required to register as a sexual offender.

Andrew Norton-Committed an undisclosed crime at the age of 12. He is required to register as a sex offender. None of his volunteer activities involve him working with minors.

Lori Collins-Convicted of statutory rape with a 15 year old minor in 2002. She is now an ordained minister through her denomination, and volunteers in prison ministry. As of July 1, 2008 when this law goes into effect, she will no longer be able to work in the prison ministry. Nor will she be able to help prepare for prayer meetings, revival meetings, seminars, or other church activities.

Angela Coffey-Convicted of statutory rape of a 17 year old minor in 2007. Now attends church with her 13 month old daughter. She desires to be active in her church, but under the new law would be prevented from doing any volunteer work in her church.

And here is the declaration of Rev. Floyd Rose, who stated that in his opinion this law would prevent individuals from participating in their church fully as believers.

This law, according to the motion filed to put an injunction in place against it, would require someone who broke this law to spend a minimum of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of 30. And that’s only for volunteering in a church! Many sexual offenders get less jail time for raping or molesting their victims.

This law is clearly overstepping the bounds of the government, and is interfering with religious freedom. The church has a duty to protect it’s most vulnerable from predators, yes. However, the church also has the duty to help believers find their gifts and engage in ministry. The government has no right to intrude on the church in this manner. And certainly not without clarifying who the bill is meant for, and what they’re prohibited from doing.