Emmy or Jesus?

There has been some buzz over Kathy Griffin's comments about Jesus. See FoxNews report

She mentioned Jesus at the Emmy awards, and now her comments are going to be edited out when it appears on television. Before our evangelical reader derides them as another example of hollywood discrimination against mentioning anything about Christianity in public, look at what she said: "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus." She then said a deragatory remark to Jesus that I won't include here, then said, "This award is my god now!"

I don't mind her remarks being censored, but at the same time it is profitable to see, because it demonstrates the vanity of a worldview against God. It seems Ms. Griffin does not want to bow her knee to anyone or anything except something she has earned on her own, a construction of her own self and personal acheivement. Okay. She does not want to give the Son of God - who created her, died for her, gave her every talent she has and holds her breath in His hand - any credit or worship for her achievements. Her alternative? She worships an award. A little metal thingy (or is it plastic?). The infinately wide difference in value between Yaweh and an emmy award cannot be comprehended by me. But she seems totally clueless of this difference and thinks the award as much better than Jesus. Hard to believe.

Oh well. She can keep and worship her little metal thingy. As for me, I will pursue my Lord and my God.

Sorrow in Virginia

A few days ago there was a shooting spree at Virginia Tech that has left 32 people dead; 33 if you include the gunman. Thirty-three people killed in cold blood as the man went from room to room indescriminately shooting people despite their screams and pleas, then himself.

What sense can you make of this? Why would a person do this? What makes a person kill other human beings so mercilessly and hate so much? Not only Cho Seung-Hui, but the killers at Columbine High School, the Nazis who poured forth the Holocaust, the Stalinist purges in the USSR, the Jihadist bombings of buses and ice cream parlors in Israel, the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, the "cleansing" of Kurds and Shiites by Saddam's regime, Pot Pot's mass genocide in Cambodia, the "Rape of Nanjing" by Japanese Imperial soldiers, the genocides in Rwanda, militant raids on civilians in Sudan, and on, and on, and on where hundreds of millions of people have died?

The history of the world seems full of violence, bloodshed, suffering, and sorrow. Man to man killing and being killed, showing no mercy. The human race has been experiencing this since Cain killed Ablel. No end is in sight that we can control, if, as the Bible says, at the end of the world there will be even greater violence and a great battle when Jesus Christ comes back to earth.

Why do people do this. I think Jeremiah 17:9 can put this question in perspective, as much as is possible for us to know: “ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?" (NKJV). This is the state of the human race. All have sinned, not just Cho or Osama Bin Laden, but me and you. Being created in God's image and having a God-given idea of right and wrong, most Americans are horrified at this raw flaunting of depravity. But at the same time, lying, pride, and gossip are sins too. We do many bad things, not as bad in our minds as what Cho did on Monday, but bad nonetheless. We cannot really understand the depravity of Cho or ourselves, but God does. The verse right after Jeremiah 17:9 says, "I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds" (NKJV). Seeing that we are all in bad ways and God sees the heart even better than we can, this can be a very terrifying thought!

Fortunately, our sins have been paid by Jesus' death on the cross. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicaly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed... that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus... a man is justified by faith apart from works" (Romans 3:23-26, 28b). By having faith (trust) in Jesus Christ, our sins are wiped clean, and we are forgiven. We will spend eternity with Christ when we die (John 6:47, 14:1-4).

But even so, sin, pain, and sorrow still exists among both Christians and non-Christians. Such is the world we live in. I cannot comprehend the grief that Virginia tech students and families are experiencing right now. I saw on CNN a profile of one of the students murdered. Just weeks before he had called his mother telling her he was to change his major to English. Perhaps he wanted to be a teacher or writer. His parents were probably excited and proud of him; he was to impact the world with his life. But that life was ended by a madman with a 9mm pistol.

Keep these people in your prayers.

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." -C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.

The Day after Easter

I’ve been engrossed in schoolwork all day and now have a little bit of time to reflect on the meaning of Easter Sunday.

That day called Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ, was originally a pagan sort of holiday that has been around quite some time. This does not subtract from the fact that Jesus did in fact die and rise from the dead. We celebrate the night Christ came into the world on December 25th, though the real time of year He was born is totally unknown. The exact date is unimportant – what’s important is that it happened. And what happened around 30 AD is that Jesus Christ died for our sins then rose from the dead three days later according to the prophecy of Scripture.

I wonder what His disciples were thinking on a Monday evening those centuries ago. In the past three days they had experienced the most astonishing events of their lives. First, Jesus, whom they were convinced was the Messiah who would drive the Romans from Israel and set up His kingdom was arrested, beaten, and nailed to a cross. The disciples deserted Him in fear. The week before those who saw Jesus entering Jerusalem were shouting with joy and praise at His entrance, but that day they shouted “Crucify Him!” and “Those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads” (Matt 27:40).

His followers were overcome with grief and shame, that the Rabbi they so dearly loved and thought to be the King was murdered, and they deserted Him, even though they swore they would never leave Him and were willing to die for Him.

Then that Sunday morning they had heard the report from women who had visited the tomb that Jesus had risen from the dead. Peter and John visited the tomb and confirmed that it was indeed empty, with the cloth they used to wrap Jesus neatly folded, showing the body was not stolen (thieves would never take the time to unwrap the body and neatly fold them). That evening the resurrected Jesus came to them and showed them from the Scriptures why the Messiah had to suffer and die, showing them the piercings in His hands.

By Monday, one might speculate what the disciples felt and what they talked about. The Bible doesn’t tell us every detail, but I can imagine the excitement, lingering disbelief, bewilderment, and joy they were experiencing. In three days their Messiah was killed, then arose, changing the world forever. They now had a message. That message was that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for the sins of humanity and resurrected from the tomb as witnessed by His followers, and anyone who trusts in Him receives eternal life with God as a free gift. With this message this small band of cowardly disciples became bold lions of courage - braving angry mobs, beatings, hate, insults, shipwrecks, arrests, beatings, torture, all manners of persecution and even a martyrs death - and turned the world upside down.

At that point in history, I wish I could have been there to see all this. But the message of Jesus Christ is still as true and important today as it was in the First Century: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Elton John on Religion

Several months ago, British singer Elton John said in an interview with the Observer newspaper, "I would ban religion completely, even though there are some wonderful things about it," He further states, "Religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it is not really compassionate." and that organized religion doesn't seem to work. The Reuters article can be found here.

These are statements are quite radical. Banning organized religion? He seems to be referring to not only Christianity, but also Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, etc. However, he seems to be particularly directing his words toward religions he feels are against homosexuality, like Christianity and Islam, since many organized religions do not have any negative opinions on homosexuality. What he sees as hatred and incompassion obviously upsets him to make such a sweeping statement.

I cannot speak for Muslims or those of other religions, but as a Christian I can tell you that Elton John does not have a proper understanding of Biblical Christianity. The Bible does not teach hatred towards homosexuals; it teaches hatred towards the sin of homosexuality... as well as sins of adultery, murder, lying, greed, lust, idolatry, envy, gossip, etc. All people are sinners, regardless of what kind of sins they do. This is precisely why Jesus Christ came: because of our cosmic rebelion against God's laws we have to die, and we deserve damnation. Jesus died on the cross to pay sin's penalty and rose from the grave, and He said that whoever trusts in Christ as Savior has eternal life. As Jesus said, "He who believes in Me has everlasting life" (Jn 6:47). "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim 1:15). That means He came to offer eternal life to everyone - whether they be self-righteous hypocrites or homosexual activists - and anyone who would believe in Him.

Christianity is based on the person of Jesus Christ. He taught that we should be loving and compassionate to all people, even enemies, but He also taught that sin is wrong, it is necessary for Him to die for us, and we must trust in Him alone as our only way to heaven. When one trusts in Him, that person is a child of God, and enters into a personal relationship with Christ.

Many Christian leaders have recently pointed out that Christianity is really not a religion, i.e. a set of traditions, practices, and regimen that must be followed to be "in." What makes a person a Christian is not in his/her practice or non-practice of Christian traditions, but whether or the person trusts in Christ. The practice of the sacraments - like baptism and communion - and doing good things - like loving people, not gossiping, and abstaining from intercourse with anyone other than husband or wife - all come down to personally living in a way that would please God and getting to know Him better. Jesus even defined eternal life as knowing God, something that starts as soon as you believe, and will be finalized when we die and go to heaven (See Jn 17:3). A Christian won't go to hell if he doesn't good things like God commands (Christians are not perfect, as anyone can deduce!), but we ought to practice righteousness to strengthen our relationship with Christ, to learn more about Him, please Him, and show gratitude towards Him for saving us.

Elton John likely was thinking of Christianity as an "organized religion" that hates gays. This would be a faulty perception in more ways than one: We're not very organized (there are thousands of Christian churches and denominations that follow Christ in different ways and having different systems of theology), we're not a religion (it's a relationship!), and we do not teach hatred of homosexuals or anyone else (but we do teach hatred of evil and sin, and we're sinners ourselves). I hope Mr. John takes new look at religions, and at what Christianity actually teaches; he just might change his mind.

Veracity of Christianity

I base all of my opinions on the Bible, the Holy Book of Christianity. I disagree with everything that disagrees with the Bible.

One might ask me, "How do you know the Bible and Christianity is true? How do you know you're not wrong? Many other people like Muslims and Buddhists believe just as sincerely in their religion as you do yours, so how can you say you're right and the others are wrong?"

These are valid questions. Truth is the most important issue anyone could consider. All people should ask these sorts of questions of themselves, how do I know my core beliefs on truth really are true?

When the world's religions are compared, one can only come to one logical conclusion: 0nly one religion, if any, can be right. The religions terribly contradict each other in their teachings: Eastern religions say everything is god, and worship idols, when others like Islam and Christianity teach there is only One God, separate from creation, and worship should be directed to Him, not idols. Other religions teach a person must earn their conception of paradise by deeds, works, and acheivement, while Christianity teaches that no one can earn eternal life, but it is given as a free gift to anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ as his Savior - salvation by faith, not works.

In response to these questions, I do have reasons for what I believe. In my personal journey of study of the different religions, I now hold strong conviction that Christianity, as outlined in the Bible, is true, and other belief systems are false, deceiving, and mislead - this may seem to be an audacious, crass statement to the politically correct postmodernists of today, but the evidence for Christianity is so strong in comparison to the evidence for other systems, I can say it confidently. Jesus Christ is, as He said, "the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (Jn 14:6).

Many scholars, atheists, agnostics, and skeptics have examined Christianity and put it to the test - men like C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, Sir William Ramsay, and Dr. Simon Greenleaf - and then find themselves moving from open hostility toward Christianity to becoming Christians themselves because of the great weight of evidence their investigation produced.

Developing a strong argument for Christian truth is a little bit too lengthy for this blog, so to examine the evidence for yourself, read the article, "Christian Evidences" by David Bishop.

I challenge you to examine the evidence for yourself, and also read the follow up article, "Christianity Compared to Other Religions." In light of the fact that 10 out of 10 people die, it would be utter foolishness to not embark on a quest to discover which belief system is true.

Rebels with a cause

Welcome to Aletheia Outpost! Aletheia is the Greek word for "truth." Truth is the primary aim of this blog. Contrary to popular opinion of liberals, eastern religionists, and liberal Christendom, I believe there is such a thing as absolute truth. I believe the only source of totally reliable eternal truth is the Bible. On this blog, we are going to examine today's issues in light of the Scriptures. Many Christians have described this practice as a "Biblical worldview." Only by examining culture, current events, and ideas through a Biblical worldview can one be accurate in his or her views. This doesn't mean my understanding of the bible is infallible. Even though I try my best to discover the answer to the major issues and questions facing our day through a lense of Scripture, I do make mistakes. Nonetheless, those are my mistakes, not mistakes in God's revelation through the Scriptures; the fact remains that absolute truth is only found in Scripture and we should live by Biblical principles.

There is a culture war waged right now that has been intensely waged since the 1960s over the very heart and soul of America. This conflict centers around the question: Will we live under God, as dictated in His Holy Scriptures, or make our own rules according to the whims of man? Will we worship God, or worship gods or goddesses of our own ideas?Let's take a little history lesson. In the 1960s, the West experienced a cultural revolution against the “establishment”, or the traditional Judeo-Christian ethic that was the predominant standard. The roots of this revolution go back farther than the 1960s (with the emergence of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s transcendentalism* and Charles Darwin’s Naturalistic Evolution** in the 1800s), but nonetheless, it exploded in the 60s as a vast, powerful, growing revolt against whatever was good and true. The rebels made up their own truth and redefined “good” to mean whatever they wanted it to mean. This is really when modern liberalism sprouted itself into the hearts and minds of mainstream America.

If we may divert for a paragraph, by the most basic definition, “liberalism” is the rejection of a standard, the desire to be free from an absolute standard, or freedom to do something. The basic definition of “Conservatism” is the adherence to an absolute standard, conserving established traditions or institutions and opposing changes to them. When we look at these basic definitions through the lenses of a Biblical worldview, we find that being liberal or conservative can be good or bad – depending on what the standard is. If the standard is Communism or Wahabbi Islam, then it is good to reject that standard and be free from it, yet it's bad to conserve it. If the standard is the Bible or the U.S. Constitution, then it is good to conserve it, not try to be free from it. However, in these times, we are talking about Modern Liberalism, which is the desire to be free from absolute standards and morals, especially those of the Scriptures. “Liberalism” today generally refers to ideas that are against the standard of God, the Bible, and the Judeo-Christian ethic.

Getting back to the historical background, with the 60s revoluton, Modern Liberalism slammed its way into American politics, government, education, religion, and science. They have infiltrated every possible aspect of American life and culture. The rebels of the 60s are no longer rebels against the Western establishment of civiliation - they are the establishment. They now control western civilization; they own it. Look at Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada - they are overwhelmed with liberalism, and the Judeo-Christian ethic is almost destroyed. European couples live together more than they marry, homosexuality is rampant, euthanasia of inconvenient people (like unborn babies and the elderly) is law, most people do not attend any church, and Christianity is universally hated. America is the last western nation to fall, and it is on its way if it does not turn from its present course.

Someone may say, "Hasn't America had a Christian President and been under Republican control (many of whom are Christians or hold to the Christian ethic) for the past 6 years? Conservatism is blasting liberalism away!" While President Bush and so many Congressmen and government officials hold to the traditional morality, liberals are still the established, "politically correct" view for the most part. Liberals make up a large block in elected government (Especially with the recent election), and with the help of the media, which is also established as liberal, they can cut off much of the effectiveness of the other elected moralists. Further, I have noticed that many Republicans are rather passive, fighting for more of a status quo, that is, not letting liberalism get any worse instead of trying to make things get better. Further, the public elementary schools, high schools, colleges and universities are totally controlled by the Liberal worldview, and are, therefore, the settled establishment. Americans are being taught an atheistic, materialistic, humanistic, pagan worldview in education programs. Liberals are more active in "proselytizing" activity than the conservative Biblical Christians, and far too many Christians are caught up in Biblical illiteracy, confusion, selfishness, hate, legalism, hypocrisy, and apathy towards influencing the world for Christ.

If you are not a Christian, then I encourage you to participate in this blog to see the philosophy behind Christianity, and what the worldview that the Bible, the Holy book of Christianity, declares. I encourage you to look at the data objectively, with an open mind, and you may be surprised at the outcome: that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for our sins and rose from the dead, and that the Biblical worldview is the most logical and truthful worldview of all.

If you are a Christian, I hope The Aletheia Post will strengthen your faith and help you understand what you believe, Who you believe, and why you believe. Christians should serve God, learn more about Jesus, and live for His glory, as well as not being ignorant of controversies regarding the teachings of the Bible and of this world.

I advocate that Christians - those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior - make Christ their cause. To proclaim the glory of God, to make known His saving grace through faith to all men, and to live out the law of Christ and not tire of good works. Jesus Christ is worth living for, fighting for, and suffering any measure of persecution for – even death, because He died for our sins and saved us. People who choose to stand for God are outnumbered. We're called fundamentalist fanatics, extremists, bigots, and many other deragatory terms that are not fit to speak here (though I must say, being an extremist can be a good thing: what's wrong with being extremely courageous, extremely loving, extremely noble? I guess they don't mean it in that way though...). Those who led the revolution against the traditional values in western culture, in an effort to replace them with Modern Liberalism, are now the establishment themselves. In a sense then, we are rebels… but we are rebels with a cause!



*Transcendentalism is an idea founded by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) that emphasized man's closeness to nature; that man and nature possess divinity, and that man has divinity within him and must therefore trust himself, and not God.**Naturalism is the idea that nature is all that there is; there is no God or supernatural.