Spanglish

Best line I have heard in a movie all year: "Sometimes your low self-esteem is just good common sense!" Finally some truth coming out of Hollywood.

Hotel Rwanda: Relativism, Moral Anarchy & Genocide

I recently watched this film and was profoundly disturbed, moved, and horrified by the scale and tragedy of the genocide which unfolded in Rwanda between ethnic Hutu's and Tutsi's beginning in April 1994. In fact, more than 800,000 men, women, and children were murdered in Rwanda during this unbelievable reign of inhumanity lasting less than four months. This was among a population of less than 8 million!

There were several revelations about this event that struck me which I think are relevant to our examinations of religion and culture. The first is the fact that it was the French government who supplied the Hutu's with weapons and then they along with every other Western power refused to intervene in the prevention of this African holocaust.

What is interesting to me is that the French, who have been so vocal in their outrage toward America, and President Bush in particular over the U.S. initiative to liberate Iraq, seemed to have no moral indignation whatsoever over the abandonment of a whole nation to barbarism. I would argue that this is the inevitable result of postmodern relativism that characterizes so many Western European nations today, and France chief among them.

In the absence of any clear moral convictions these cultures have become indifferent to the oppression of others because they lack any absolute moral commitments. "Who are we to say that this or that is wrong?" Such cultures cannot even condemn the ideologies which lead to genocide. They certainly condemn genocide after the fact but then it is obviously too late. It is only when you are in possession of clear moral convictions rooted in a concept of absolute truth that you are compelled to intervene in order to enact justice.

Of course the French were not alone in their abandonment of the Rwandans; the U.S. under the Clinton administration was equally ambivalent in their response. In fact, recently declassified government documents show that this same lack of moral conviction and the resulting priority of politics over principal were dominating factors in the U.S. indifference.

What is so notable about the 20th century is that great physical power has been acquired by men who have no fear of God and who believe themselves unrestrained by any absolute code of conduct. I would add, if this "code of conduct" does not derive from God then who? History has demonstrated that there have always been many who are willing to author and impose their own moral categories and in every instance the results have been catastrophic. Will we continue to stray further from the truth or will we awaken to the inevitable disaster? Will we return to this one truth? - "I AM the Lord thy God, thou shall have no other gods before Me."

Rethinking Joel Osteen

Some of you may have noticed that I have removed my previous post regarding Joel Osteen. After careful consideration and much prayerful contemplation I am no longer convinced that such perspectives have a place in my ministry. While I still have serious reservations about Joel Osteen's doctrine and message I do not believe that public attack, in any form, on someone who is potentially a brother in Christ is honoring to God or advances the cause of Christ.

I conclude this issue with Colossians 2:8 "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

The responsibility for discerning truth from falsity is yours! Thus I leave it in the hands of each individual and trust that we all, by God's grace, will seek after sound doctrine and resist what our 'itching' ears want to hear.

Deciphering the Terri Schiavo Case

There is an abundance of confusion and misunderstanding on the part of most Americans including evangelical Christians as it relates to the Terri Schiavo case. This is arguably the most significant step toward our civil demise since Roe v. Wade and yet most Americans and Christians in particular do not understand the implications. This case takes a sudden and quantum leap closer to legalizing euthanasia in America. The following is a sound factual, doctrinal, and philosophical examination of the facts by Doug Phillips at The Vision Forum. Every citizen of this nation should be horrified by what has just taken place in Pinellas Park, Florida and every Christian has a duty to understand the issue from a biblical perspective in order to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. The Church simply must awaken to this latest assault on God's truth or abandon all hope of recapturing relevance in this generation! The words of Martin Luther King, Jr. seem appropriate here, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Of course he did not mean "end" literally although in this case that is precisely what could happen to you if you become impaired, incapacitated, or simply no longer "useful" according to someone's arbitrary standard!

Deciphering the Terri Schiavo Case

There are five things you must know about the crime which occured in Pinellas Park, Florida: First, an innocent woman was cruelly tortured and murdered contrary to the law of God, the law of the land, and the law of the state. Second, those individuals most complicit in the torture and murder of Terri have diabolical agendas. Third, there is an immediately available biblical, constitutional, and legal remedy. Fourth, the inability of Christian attorneys and leaders to reach a biblical consensus on the meaning of “the rule of law” has rendered our efforts to save Terri impotent, has spread confusion within the body of Christ, and will be the undoing of our legal and political efforts in the future unless it is resolved. Fifth, they are coming next for you.

The Torture and Murder of an Innocent Woman Contrary to Law

He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, than I am strong. (II Corinthians 12:9-10)

Foundational Principles

There are fundamental questions that must be answered and principles which must be established to rightly interpret the tragic events surrounding the execution of Terri Schiavo. How our society answers these questions and affirms these principles will determine whether or not our children will grow up in a ruthless fratricidal society of bioethical bigots or whether Christian ethics will govern...

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