Posts Tagged ‘Biblical Worldview’

Berkeley Reflects America as Chaos Drives Politics

Posted: February 4, 2017 by David Fiorazo in Abortion, David's Blog, Government Schools, Hollywood, LGBT agenda, liberalism
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this-is-war-berkeley-riot-signCan you really call it a war when only one side seems to be doing all the fighting? The left are aggressively pushing their agenda across America – immorality, lawlessness, and anything opposed to biblical Christianity – and the troops are advancing through every major institution. This obviously includes academia.

They’ve taken control of the media, corporate America, the entertainment industry, the education system, the culture, the courts, and government. But wait, Donald Trump just became president of the United States and it is nearly driving some of them insane. Hollywood in particular is becoming unhinged.

Madonna publicly admits she has thought about “blowing up the White House.” Actress Lea DeLaria (Orange is the New Black) said she wanted to “pick up a baseball bat and take out every [expletive] Republican and Independent I see.” Bruce Springsteen told an Australian audience he is now embarrassed to be an American. Nordstrom stores drop Ivanka Trump’s clothing line, and the list goes on.

Just days ago on The View, Whoopi Goldberg lamented America’s new president and criticized the administration’s policies on women, Planned Parenthood, the media, and refugees, and asked the audience, “are these values really much different than the Taliban’s?” Oh, and Robert De Niro said about Trump, “We have to bully him back.”

And decades ago, the left conquered higher education by gaining control of most every college and university. Tragically, too many of us are just now seeing the rotten fruit academia has been producing for years.

Cue the snowflakes at California University in Berkeley, CA.

Milo Yiannopoulos, an editor for Breitbart News, was scheduled to speak to conservative students at Cal Berkeley Wednesday night when radical left wing students and George Soros-funded groups organized a protest including hateful rhetoric, rioting, setting vehicles on fire, and throwing paint and Molotov cocktails at the building the speaker was in.

Cal students along with paid protesters carried signs against homophobic attitudes toward gays and against Trump’s refugee policies and get this: telling an open homosexual and legal immigrant he is not welcome at their university! Some shouted he has no right to speak here, and hatred is not welcome, blah, blah, blah.

Here are just a few of the protest signs:

  • Kill Trump
  • Become Ungovernable
  • Shut it down
  • Out of Berkeley, Nazi Scum
  • No Facist USA
  • I Love what Trump Hates

Leftists and progressives claim to be beacons of reason, tolerance, and “love,” but their actions prove they are hypocritical liars. The public only buys it because Hollywood and the media are on their side and have cornered the propaganda market. They defend the blatant Saul Alinsky tactics implemented by these agitators.

Alinksy dedicated his book, Rules for Radicals, to Satan (“…the very first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer.”), and it has been the playbook for the Left. He provided marching orders that decades of loyal disciples across the country as well as in the Democratic Party today have used to gain power. A few goals are to destroy the American system of government, free markets, and the Judeo-Christian ethic the nation was established upon.

  • They only tolerate people who believe exactly what they believe.
  • They are some of the most hate-filled, violent, intolerant people anywhere.
  • And they are so depraved in their thinking and so immersed in contradictions that they turn against the very people they claim to represent if that person doesn’t tow the entire liberal line.

I co-host a radio program called Stand Up for the Truth, and host Mike LeMay shared his concerns on Thursday’s program:

We must fact this fact. American public education has become a breeding ground for Marxist Humanism. Today’s youth have been programmed to hate God, the Bible, truth, and anyone who thinks differently than they do.

Has one Democratic politician spoken up and condemned this violence?  No, and in fact, Obama has encouraged it, even up through yesterday saying he is “heartened” by the pushback against Trump. Have they condemned this treatment of a homosexual and an immigrant at Berkeley?  No. Because the progressive left in this nation is the greatest example of bigotry and hypocrisy you will find anywhere.

Remember all the protests and arrests and riots and police activity and violence right after Obama was elected? I don’t either.

At Cal however, the crowd even threw rocks and fireworks at police officers and damaged several buildings in downtown Berkeley. Ironically, they threw stuff and smashed windows of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union building. (Can’t snowflakes be called ‘racists’ for doing that?)

The mob also attacked various Trump supporters who were there including:

  • One young lady wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat was attacked during a television interview. An unknown man sprayed some sort of liquid in her face.
  • The Daily Californian reports another Trump supporter was grabbed by a crowd of agitators and thrown to the ground. He escaped, but they grabbed his red hat and set it on fire. And police had to rescue another man who was bloodied and beaten.

What did the university do? They blamed the violence on outsiders and due to their policy, no arrests were made and campus security stood back and watched.

America is reaping the seeds we have sown in public education and pop culture for the past fifty years. And to be honest, I don’t blame the kids. (How about parents, pastors, teachers, coaches, and youth leaders over the last fifty years?) This is the fruit of our silence as well as the extreme lack of resistance to the immoral, hostile takeover of our culture and country.

Milo Yiannopoulos told Tucker Carlson on FOX News,

“No one’s safety is at risk from different opinions; No one’s physical safety is endangered by political ideas from a speaker on campus, but universities have sort of allowed this stuff to happen, and even in some cases, encouraged it.”

There are those on both the left and right who call for civility and unity in America. I get it. But these calls are either naive or disingenuous. It is almost always conservatives, Republicans, and Christians who end up compromising in our society. The parallel is not unlike those who are committed practitioners of radical Islam; you cannot coexist with those whose goal is to either force you into submission, make you pay high taxes and fines, or to kill you.

Liberals have been emboldened and would rather shut down the conversation – or shut you down – than allow conservative or Christian values and ideas to be considered and promoted.

It was Joseph Stalin who reportedly once stated, “Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not allow our enemies to have guns, why should we let them have ideas.”

Former Obama administration official, Rosa Brooks, recently wrote about four ways to “get rid” of President Trump, including a military coup or declaring him mentally unfit for command. (Foreign Policy magazine posting here)

Brooks is a Schwartz senior fellow at the New America Foundation, which is funded by billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. She served from 2009-2011 as Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and served as a senior adviser at Obama’s State Department. In an apparent effort to make a case against Trump, Brooks questions his mental stability saying, “has made it all too clear: Yes, he is as crazy as everyone feared.”

Militant liberal, actress Sarah Silverman also called for a military coup against the president, tweeting a list of moves Trump made in his first days in office to 9.8 million followers:

WAKE UP & JOIN THE RESISTANCE. ONCE THE MILITARY IS W US, FASCISTS GET OVERTHROWN. MAD KING & HIS HANDLERS GO BYE BYE

At the leftist-funded “Women’s March” a few weeks back, professing Christian, Ashley Judd went on a profanity-laced feminist rant on behalf of the new “nasty woman” movement. She likened Trump to Hitler a few times, ranted about women’s menstrual cycles, and raved about how women’s private parts are for pleasure rather than babies. Scarlet Johansson complained about having to use Planned Parenthood with when she was 15 years old.

Finally, the media would never mention this, but a main organizer of the event, Linda Sarsour, is a Muslim who wants Sharia Law in America. She is a Palestinian-American activist, executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, and an Obama White House “Champion of Change.”

These protests stem from people’s warped worldview and rebellion against God the Creator of all life, also known as God the Father. Many on the left have an insatiable disdain for Christianity, America, capitalism, conservatives, patriotism, Republicans, Israel, and most recently, Donald Trump.

In her article, “The War On Sanity,” Jennifer Hartline describes the dilemma well:

In the new civil war… There is no objective reality based on observable, physical or natural law. There’s only the tyranny of feelings. And you are not permitted to disagree.

The world is not ending because Trump is president, and every citizen has the freedom to speak up, vote, and resist peacefully and politically without it leading to violence. I’m just not so sure the far left can restrain themselves any longer, but I could be wrong.

Many on the far left believe we’re in a new civil war, and they’re taking it seriously. 

Most of these poor souls don’t realize it yet, but they need the hope, truth, and salvation of Jesus Christ. Pray for them, they’re lost; and pray for the new administration.

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

 

David Fiorazo’s latest book can be found here: The Cost of Our Silence: Consequences of Christians Taking the Path of Least Resistance

*Photos from this site: Breitbart News

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Worldview from Inside the Elite Bubble

Posted: December 14, 2016 by David Fiorazo in David's Blog, Education, liberalism
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college-girl-with-megaphoneThey declare diversity and insist they are inclusive. They tout tolerance and yet, they often refuse to put up with anyone who thinks differently than them. They raise their collective hands to silence opposing views rather than listen or participate in respectful debate. You know exactly where they stand on ‘religion and politics.’

They cannot comprehend how some folks can actually have a biblical Christian worldview. Rather than dialogue, theirs is often a monologue, having already concluded they are right about everything, others are wrong, and there is no sense in allowing diverse ideas and opposing opinions about life and the world.

‘They’ are the liberal elites and their disciples. Though we cannot place all liberals in this category, many are furious about the recent election results in which the coronation of their progressive presidential candidate was thwarted. Millions of American citizens want a much different country because we believe and think differently than they do.

And herein lies the problem. We think differently.

Even the casual observer has most likely noticed the deep divide in our culture that has been exacerbated over the last eight years by the Obama administration. And if you ask liberals and progressives the cause of the divide they’ll probably point to [practicing] Christians, Fox News, Republicans, or Donald Trump.

It could not possibly be them or the policies on their side; it has to be those who oppose the godless liberal worldview. We’ve seen it play out in the mainstream media and cable news as well as on social media.

One recent, jaw-dropping example from academia helps make the case: the Left is generally intolerant of opposing thought. A California college professor went on a rant during her class calling Trump a “white supremacist,” Mike Pence “one of the most anti-gay humans in this country,” and declared their election “an act of terrorism.”

The video clip has gone viral and the student who recorded it is being threatened with legal action by a teachers union.

This reminds me of the WikiLeaks revelations through which Hillary Clinton’s emails were exposed. Why do they seem more concerned that the truth was exposed than they are about the controversial content?

The professor, Olga Perez Stable Cox told her class:

“Our nation is divided. We have been assaulted, and it’s an act of terrorism.”

Wait. What exactly does she mean by that? Who is “we”?

Hypocritical people like this call for unity, but promote division and hatred, going so far as to claim, “we are back to being at civil war.” She continued, saying,

“One of the most frightening things for me, and most people in my life, is that the people who are leading the assault are among us.”

We may be able to get away with thinking differently as long as we keep it to ourselves, but apparently we are assaulting them by not voting for their candidate.

Many in liberal circles, particularly the mainstream media, have little or no respect for others outside their bubble. In this case it happens to be educators wherein approximately 92 percent are liberal or Democrat.

Then there’s Hollywood.

Like many in the entertainment industry, a friend of mine who works in Hollywood shared some honest and revealing thoughts after the election results came in. This person truly believes there is a sudden resurgence of racism, bigotry, homophobia, and (gasp!) pro-lifers in America.

I looked up ‘bigotry’ which simply means: “complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own.”

Ready for the irony?

My friend is not at all an agenda-driven, mean-spirited person, but is heartbroken over the election and said it revealed the large number of people in the country who believe differently than the self-professed “enlightened” ones.

They actually believe that those of us who trust Christ and His Word are backwards and need therapy. My friend said in order to change, the first thing needed in therapy is to acknowledge there is a problem.

America, we have a problem – and it’s a big one.

Yes, they need the hope and salvation only Jesus provides, but here’s one key point: most of us believe they are wrong; they however, believe we are evil.

Big difference.

To them, we are looked down upon as uneducated, uninformed, narrow-minded, bigoted, intolerant fascists. And those are our good qualities!

It was inconceivable half the country could vote for someone other than their candidate. My friend admitted to being “surrounded by a bubble of intelligent people that are for social change,” and could not understand why so many Americans voted to reverse the [false] hope and [radical] “change.”

If you’re like me, you believe these last eight years have plunged us into even deeper darkness via the advancement of open immorality which has driven America down into the gutter. Following the 2016 election on the other hand, here’s how my friend now sees it:

“Sometimes we need to hit bottom and descend into darkness, before we can see the light.”

 

This is not entirely incorrect in terms of eternity. Oftentimes, before we can be saved, we must come to the end of ourselves, repent, and admit there is a higher authority to whom we must give account.

The only light that ultimately matters is the light of the world, Jesus Christ. Tired of doing things in your own strength? No sin is too great; turn to Him and surrender.

In dealing with those who cannot relate to us, always remember our (and their) struggle is first a spiritual one and those who are lost need the forgiveness Christ offers. Whatever sheltered environment they happen to be living in, the truth must be proclaimed to them regardless of how we, messengers of the gospel, are perceived.

It doesn’t matter what people think of us. Are you and I seeking the approval of God or man? Obedience to His Word, seeking eternal things first, and pleasing Him is what’s important. You never know who God is preparing for you to love them enough to tell them the truth.

(Christmas season is here and books make great gifts! DID YOU KNOW David Fiorazo’s book, Eradicate: Blotting Out God in America is at its lowest price of just $10 bucks? Or check out The Cost of Our Silence: Consequences of Christians Taking the Path of Least Resistance)

*Photo credit: Christianity Malaysia

WHY TRUTH MATTERS: Your Worldview Affects Everything!

Posted: February 7, 2014 by David Fiorazo in David's Blog
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Graphic courtesy of Biblical Worldview Institute – a division of Cascade Christian schools

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. …And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth – (John 1:1-3, 14).

What we believe about truth affects everything we do in this life. How we view God, people, and how we understand the world – past, present, and future – depends on what we believe about absolute truth. If there are no absolutes, then anything goes! As Christians, what we believe about absolute truth depends on what we believe about Jesus Christ and the Bible. The Old Testament refers to God as the God of truth (Isaiah 65:16). The Word of God is perfect. From indisputable historical facts to archeological evidence, the Bible has yet to be proven inaccurate or wrong.

Enemies of truth can make up stuff about the Bible, write their books attempting to debunk Scripture, and create their own documentaries with lies and fabrications, but it won’t change the fact that God’s Word is eternal. Does truth depend on where we were raised, what church we attended, what a teacher taught us, or what the media says is true? Does truth change with the times, technology or circumstances? What is truth?

Jesus prayed to the Father in the presence of His disciples and said:

Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth (John 17:17).

According to the Bible, truth is the self-expression of God. Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, and being of God. There is complete unity between the written Word of God and the perfect expression of God in Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us Jesus existed in the beginning. In the New Testament, Scripture is called the Word of Christ (Colossians 3:16). The person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Word of the living God then are in full agreement. This is the basis from which we must discern, perceive, and reason. There is no ambiguity whatsoever!

Try defining truth apart from God or without universal absolutes and see where that gets you. Apparently, there is plenty of confusion not only in the world, but also in the church regarding how truth is defined and understood. There are professing Christians who say they believe in “most” of the Bible. Really? We don’t have the option to pick and choose only those Scriptures that suit us or the verses we agree with. The entire Bible is true or our faith is a lie.

The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting (Psalm 119:160).

Furthermore, in the book of Revelation, Jesus is called Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11) when He returns to conquer and reign. Here’s where our worldview starts, and it takes faith: Either God is or God is not. This is something many grapple with. God created all things, but how did He come into existence?

Before the mountains were born, Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God (Psalm 90:2).

God existed in the beginning, before anything and everything. All we need to know is that when Moses asked, God said to him, I AM WHO I AM in Exodus 3:14. We get Lord from the original name of God, YHWH, which is derived from the verb HAYAH, meaning “to be.” Our faith also holds that Jesus is God.

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11).

Truth has been under attack from the very beginning of time, and in America, opposition to Jesus Christ has intensified. People are avoiding, denying, and suppressing the truth more than ever. They can ignore it, they can mock it, and they can pretend it does not exist, but that changes nothing. The sad thing is there is some debate about what is true even among Christians!

In 1995, approximately fifty percent of Christians said there are moral truths which are unchanging, and that truth is absolute, not relative to the circumstances. Not surprisingly, ten years later in 2005, The Barna Group conducted a poll revealing only 35% of Americans believe in absolute standards of morality, that right and wrong do not change with time or circumstances.1 (33% didn’t even know how to respond!)

ESTABLISHING A CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW

A person’s worldview is a significant step toward self-awareness, self-knowledge and self-understanding. Your worldview as a Christian needs to be based on a foundation of God’s Word. Our sovereign God is not surprised, but it must grieve His heart to see the condition of our country, the world, and the church today. Holiness and righteousness are practically meaningless to some religious folks. The Word of God is being watered down, truth is being diluted, and this has led to moral and cultural confusion.

Here’s a quick example: I’m pro-life and sure hope you are as well. I have learned that even in the church, believers have different views on abortion and when life begins. This proves either we don’t read our Bibles as much anymore, or we believe the talking heads. Especially in the church, building on a foundational worldview of biblical truth is paramount.

In a Crosswalk.com article, Michael Foust wrote:

“Barna defines a biblical worldview as believing that: moral absolutes exist; the source of truth is the Bible; the Bible is “accurate in all of the principles it teaches,” salvation is by grace alone; Jesus lived a sinless life; believers have a duty to witness; Satan is real and not just a symbol; God is the “all-knowing, all-powerful maker of the universe who still rules that creation today.”

This worldview is the foundation for every decision you make in life. I don’t care who you are, how old you are, where you live, or what kind of family you grew up in; if you have not considered exactly how your personal beliefs, philosophy, and worldview were formed, it is time to take a serious look at what you believe and why.

We must be undaunted in establishing God’s Word as the basis of our thinking, our faith, and our lives. If we don’t make this critically important decision, we’ll be in danger of seeing the world through our own feelings, personal experiences, opinions, Hollywood, media, and what others have told us, instead of through God’s eyes. Some of us have lived much of our lives believing what we have heard or read at one time, instead of believing what God says. May the Lord have mercy on our biblical illiteracy!

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teach­ing, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness – (2 Timothy 3:16).

Is it possible to live authentically and effectively as a Christian and not believe the entire Bible word for word? If you do not believe in parts of the Bible, then how can you trust God’s Word in its entirety? Is Jesus a liar? Did he only really mean most of the things He said? This is where people living on a spiritual fault line panic at the first sign of a life-shaking trial, revealing their foundation wasn’t very solid.

You may be reading this right now and God is nudging you to evalu­ate what you think about truth. Jesus promised his followers the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth (John 16:13). If you think the Bible is a history book or a moral guide, then you are missing out on knowing Jesus. Evangelical Christian theologian, author, and pastor, Francis Schaeffer stated:

“Truth always carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation nevertheless. If our reflex action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong.”

The battle over what is true divides people. This is the state of America today because if opponents of truth can convince people to believe that God doesn’t exist, then there are no moral restraints and anything goes. In his book, 78 – How Christians Can Save America, author and radio talk show host, Peter Heck, included a fascinating interaction with a caller to his program. Here’s a portion:

James: “…There are different ways of looking at the world, and there are different perspectives people have, and …saying that this is a concrete right, and this is a concrete wrong may be true given your perspective, but it’s not maybe true given mine….”

Peter: “…do you realize that Hitler was doing what he thought was right? He was merely speeding up the evolutionary process. He was attempting to bring about a master race and extermi­nate all the riff-raff. It’s the same thing Planned Parenthood was founded to do. Get rid of all the lesser folks. Now, maybe you don’t agree with his strategy, but he just had a different per­spective on how to improve the lives of humanity than Mother Theresa, but ultimately they both wanted the same thing, right?

“What if I said that it would have been better for Mother The­resa to kill all those impoverished people she lived with? Take them out of their misery! Why is this perspective wrong? …There has to be a truth that is fixed, that is right for all men, or we’re in a lot of trouble.”

The truth established from the beginning is God. He is eternal. Though humanists have made progress in their goal to blot out God, ultimately it will be impossible. Even if they could eradicate Christianity from America one day, we know He is everlasting; He is the beginning and the end, and He holds the universe in his hands.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8).

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T BELIEVE, START WITH THE TRUTH

In my personal conversations with people who do not believe the Bible is the Word of God, my intention is never to try to force them to believe or to convince them about Jesus; that’s the job of the Holy Spirit. My job is to speak honestly to whoever will listen and allow God to work through me. Some people simply don’t want to believe, and that is the beauty of free will. We serve a loving God who refuses to force His creation to worship Him.

The road to life is a narrow one, but whoever believes in Jesus can have everlasting life because God is no respecter of persons. Take the necessary time to thoroughly examine the Scriptures. Even though God knows some will refuse to believe no matter what, He desires all people to know the truth and be saved through Jesus Christ because there is only one God (1 Timothy 2:3-5), and Christ is the only Media­tor between God and man.

If someone gave you this book, and you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, it’s not too late to be saved unless you are simply unwilling to ask. Please search your heart right now and see if you honestly want to know the one true God personally. He loves you and He is waiting for you with open arms. He is the only God who is alive! It’s not wrong to have doubts, but those doubts need to be dealt with – and He’s knock­ing right now.

If you are sincerely ready to accept God’s will for your life, here’s a prayer God always answers: “Father in heaven, please show me the truth about who Jesus Christ is.” He wants to reveal His love and truth to you and show you His plan for your life. God never promises an easy life, but He does promise us a better life. Our part is the faith, His part is the fulfillment.

Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3).

It is easy for people to criticize what they do not understand. The Bible tells us the message of the cross is foolishness (1 Cor. 1:18) to unbelievers because God frustrates those who think they are intelligent or wise. Proverbs 3:7 warns us to not be wise in our own eyes. After all, who can fully comprehend a perfect God?

Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels, announced to the nations; He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory (1 Timothy 3:16). 

Jesus is the cornerstone, which is one reason why there is so much division over him. Everything written in the Bible concerning Him is true. On the other hand, some think Jesus was simply a persuasive teacher, the leader of a rebellion, or even a lunatic because of the claims He made. According to Jesus, He is the bread of life, the door, the gate, the light, the truth, and the way. Jesus said He was not of this world and that He overcame the world.

Before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples He was going back to heaven to prepare a place for them and then return for them because He wanted His followers to be with Him in God’s glory. He also told them they should know where He was going and how to get there. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus answered:

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him (John 14:6-7).

This statement by Jesus Christ must be dealt with, because it does not allow for wiggle room. The Bible is the God-breathed, Holy Spirit-inspired Word of life. If you doubt the Bible can be infallible, since it was written by men, then you are putting God in a box.

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21).

Is anything too hard for the Lord? God’s ways are higher than ours, and if we believe in the Creator then we must believe He gives us our intellect. Without a creator, without a design, and without a plan, you and I are just cosmic accidents living a purposeless, random existence.

After all, without God, our lives are based on ourselves (we’re number one!) and on living for today. But if God’s Word is true, and we really are sinners in need of rescue, then there must be right and wrong, true and false, good and bad, light and darkness, and moral absolutes.

Our godless society has been heading full speed away from Christ, and many people seem to hate the very truth that could save them! As a whole, our secular progressive culture has denied the truth of God and the authority of the Bible, in order to defend and justify their unholy living. The result is chaos, confusion, moral relativism, self-exaltation, and countless forms of spirituality apart from Christianity. It is dif­ficult for the natural man to grasp the sovereignty, omniscience, and omnipotence of a perfect God. Even in the church, doctrine divides denominations and the best of Christians. Riding the fence with a foot in two different worldviews is not an option.

CHRIST BEFORE ALL THINGS

John [the Baptist] testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me (John 1:15).

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule… (Genesis 1:26).

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spo­ken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radi­ance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power… (Hebrews 1:1-3)

These verses confirm and bear witness to the fact Christ existed before He came to live on earth for 33 years. This can be hard to grasp with our human minds, but it is essential to understanding the truth. It also reinforces the Trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Believers don’t consider the creation account often enough. All things were created by Him and for Him. Colossians 1:17 tells us He [Jesus] is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

In addition, Jesus said the following in John 5:39, 40, and 46:

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life…. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.

The religious leaders flipped out when they heard Jesus say this, and then they blew a gasket when Jesus told them He existed before Abra­ham (John 8:56). This challenges us to dig deeper into our faith. John R.W. Stott was an English Christian leader and was very influential in the worldwide evangelical movement. He said it is the uniqueness of Christ that we defend:

“So, because in no other person but Jesus of Nazareth did God first become human (in his birth), then bear our sins (in his death), then conquer death (in his resurrection) and then enter his people (by his Spirit), he is uniquely able to save sinners. Nobody else has his qualifications.”

Most Christians don’t have a problem with the above assertions or Scriptures, but some have a hard time with being saved by grace alone. A few religions overemphasize good works – doing as much as you can to be accepted by God or to get to heaven – which is not what the Bible teaches. In Ephesians 2, Paul writes that we are saved only through faith because of God’s grace. Grace is undeserved favor. Grace has nothing to do with our efforts.

However, it is also important to balance out our faith and good deeds because faith without actions is useless. We are to live what we believe in full expression and demonstration of our faith. The Bible also teaches faith works through love (Gal. 5:6). But please do not miss the point that there is absolutely nothing you or I can do to get God to love us more or accept us more. Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:38-39).

Then there are others who don’t think they need to put their trust in Jesus to go to heaven. They might say, “I am a good person. I have never murdered or raped anybody. I try to follow the Golden Rule. I love the planet and recycle, and I even volunteer.” I would ask them if they think Jesus was a good person.

As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone (Mark 10:17-18).

No one is good enough on their own to approach a holy God. He also made the point that we are incapable of keeping the command­ments, so how can anyone be saved by trying to be good through their own efforts?

Have you ever lied, stolen anything, coveted something someone else had, hated someone in your heart (murder), or lusted after another person (adultery)? Have you always honored your mother and father? Have you ever idolized a person or a thing over God? (Like a Hollywood actor, rock star, sports team, athlete, celebrity, bike, car, boat, house, etc.) Have you ever taken the Lord’s name in vain? Not one of us is good, and it’s impossible for us to keep the laws and commandments of God on our own. That’s why the gospel truly is very good news. Those of us who confess Jesus is our Lord and Savior, believing in our hearts, are forgiven, saved, set free, redeemed, restored, sanctified, and blessed. We have a bright future and an eternal hope!

PRAY FOR THOSE WHO REFUSE TO BELIEVE

I recently had a good conversation with a very liberal guy who is not a Christian. Though he didn’t believe the Bible is God’s Word or that Christ alone is Lord, he listened to what I shared. Sadly, the conversa­tion left his heart unchanged. He complimented me on being a person of conviction even though he disagreed with me.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised (1 Corinthians 2:14).

The natural man may be wise according to the world’s wisdom and intellect, but that won’t get him very far when it comes to discerning spiritual things. His pride, earthly success, degrees and worldly educa­tion prevent him from admitting he needs God. Though this person I talked with hasn’t read much of the Bible, he had formed strong beliefs and negative opinions about Christianity and religion in general. Not only that, but he also taught this worldview to his children, and they now take bits and pieces from many religions.

I call it cafeteria Christianity. They choose what they want, when they want it, and avoid what they don’t like in the Bible. It is being dangerously mired in the mucky middle. But if you have an unwaver­ing faith in Jesus Christ built on the solid foundation of God’s Word, your beliefs will not be shaken. Your faith will withstand the debates, opinions, talking points, arguments, and attacks of opponents. We don’t have all the answers, so we don’t need to pretend we do.

I love the Lord because He changed my heart. I am convinced about the truth of Jesus Christ because of massive evidence – archeological, biblical, and historical – and years of personal research and study. This other person was just as convinced in his views by his upbringing, by liberal friends, and higher education. We both believe our convictions are right and true. So what is the lesson? Don’t get discouraged when you talk to someone who simply doesn’t want to believe. Pray for them. The results are in God’s hands.

The more I study the Bible, the more I realize I need to learn. Our responsibility is to always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15). Are you prepared to explain the reason for your faith in Christ? The Holy Spirit will instruct us and teach us. People may not know exactly what they’re looking for, but they are searching. Everyone has a void only Christ can fill. We are ambassadors for Christ commissioned to share the truth, so speak it with boldness.

Biblical truth has been forced out of the public square, followed by a purposeful shift away from Christianity in America to the point where we are confused about church and state issues. Since truth matters, we need to look at what our founders believed and how this country was established. While doing this, we must understand the founder’s intent and the connection between God and government in the United States. We’ll tackle this in chapter two…

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is jus­tified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved… For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:9-10, 13 ESV).

This is an excerpt (Chapter 1 in its entirety) from the book, ERADICATE: BLOTTING OUT GOD IN AMERICA, by David Fiorazo. “Why Truth Matters.”

How then should we live?

Worldview Culture Circles

Graphic courtesy of Biblical Worldview Institute – a division of Cascade Christian schools