THE NECESSITY AND URGENCY OF MAINTAINING SOUND DOCTRINE...the prototypical test for the local church in evangelicalism today

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." -2 Timothy 2:15

"Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you." -2 Timothy 1:13-14

"He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it." -Titus 1:9

by A.W. Tozer
It would be impossible to overemphasize the importance of sound doctrine in the life of a Christian. Right thinking about all spiritual matters is imperative if we would have right living. As men do not gather grapes of thorns nor figs of thistles, so sound character does not grow out of unsound teaching.

The word doctrine means simply religious beliefs held and taught. It is the sacred task of all Christians, first as believers and then as teachers of religious beliefs, to be certain that these beliefs correspond exactly to truth. A precise agreement between belief and fact constitutes soundness in doctrine. We cannot afford to have less.

Contend for the Faith
The apostles not only taught truth but contended for its purity against any who would corrupt it. The Pauline epistles resist every effort of false teachers to introduce doctrinal vagaries. john's epistles are sharp with condemnation of those teachers who harassed the young church by denying the incarnation and throwing doubts upon the doctrine of the Trinity; and Jude in his brief but powerful epistle rises to heights of burning eloquence as he pours scorn upon evil teachers who would mislead the saints.

Each generation of Christians must look to its beliefs. While truth itself is unchanging, the minds of men are porous vessels out of which truth can leak and into which error may seep to dilute the truth they contain. The human heart is heretical by nature and runs to error as naturally as a garden to weeds. All a man, a church or a denomination needs to guarantee deterioration of doctrine is to take everything for granted and do nothing. The unattended garden will soon be overrun with weeds; the heart that fails to cultivate truth and root out error will shortly be a theological wilderness; the church or denomination that grows careless on the highway of truth will before long find itself astray, bogged down in some mud flat from which there is no escape.

Faithfulness to Truth
In every field of human thought and activity accuracy is considered a virtue. To err ever so slightly is to invite serious loss, if not death itself. Only in religious thought is faithfulness to truth looked upon as a fault. When men deal with things earthly and temporal they demand truth; when they come to the consideration of things heavenly and eternal they hedge and hesitate as if truth either could not be discovered or didn't matter anyway.

Montaigne said, "that a liar is one who is brave toward God and a coward toward men; for a liar faces God and shrinks from men." Is this not simply a proof of unbelief? Is it not to say that the liar believes in men but is not convinced of the existence of God, and is willing to risk the displeasure of a God who may not exist rather than that of man who obviously does?

Carelessness in Religion
I think also that deep, basic unbelief is back of human carelessness in religion. The scientist, the physician, the navigator deals with matters he knows are real; and because these things are real the world demands that both teacher and practitioner be skilled in the knowledge of them. The teacher of spiritual things only is required to be unsure in his beliefs, ambiguous in his remarks and tolerant of every religious opinion expressed by anyone, even by the man least qualified to hold an opinion.

Haziness of doctrine has always been the mark of the liberal. When the Holy Scriptures are rejected as the final authority on religious belief something must be found to take their place. Historically that something has been either reason or sentiment: if sentiment, it has been humanism. Sometimes there has been an admixture of the two, as may be seen in liberal churches today. These will not quite give up the Bible, neither will they quite believe it; the result is an unclear body of beliefs more like a fog than a mountain, where anything may be true but nothing may be trusted as being certainly true.

We have gotten accustomed to the blurred puffs of gray fog that pass for doctrine in modernistic churches and expect nothing better, but it is a cause for real alarm that the fog has begun of late to creep into many evangelical churches. From some previously unimpeachable sources are now coming vague statements consisting of a milky admixture of Scripture, science and human sentiment that is true to none of its ingredients because each one works to cancel the others out.

Brainwashed Evangelicals
Certain of our evangelical brethren appear to be laboring under the impression that they are advanced thinkers because they are rethinking evolution and re-evaluating various Bible doctrines or even divine inspiration itself; but so far are they from being advanced thinkers that they are merely timid followers of modemism-fifty years behind the parade.

Little by little evangelical Christians these days are being brainwashed. One evidence is that increasing numbers of them are becoming ashamed to be found unequivocally on the side of truth. They say they believe but their beliefs have been so diluted as to be impossible of clear definition.

Moral power has always accompanied definitive beliefs. Great saints have always been dogmatic. We need right now a return to a gentle dogmatism that smiles while it stands stubborn and firm on the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever."

by A.W. Tozer, The Best Of A.W. Tozer, pg. 174-176,
taken from Man, The Dwelling Place Of God

NO MR. PRESIDENT!...a plea to save the lives of unborn children by John Piper

IS THIS WHERE WE'RE HEADED?

Sweden has approved gender-specific abortions, allowing parents to rid themselves of an unwanted daughter in a closely-watched ethics case:

Swedish women will be permitted to abort their children based on the sex of the fetus, according to a ruling by Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare.

The ruling was spurred by a request from Kai Wedenberg, head of the clinic where a woman twice requested, and received, an abortion based on sex.

Mr. Wedenberg asked for clarification from health officials after a woman, who already had two girls, requested amniocentesis and to be told the sex of her unborn child. She found out she was pregnant with another girl and asked for an abortion six days later.

The woman then became pregnant again, returned to the clinic and asked for another amniocentesis, which was not performed. Later, at her ultrasound, she asked the nurse to reveal the sex of her fetus, which was a girl. After learning this, the mother requested an abortion later that day and received it later that week.

LIFE AT THE CHURCH OF ST. ARBUCKS...evangelism - one cup at a time

Here is some re-heated java for you today. i thought this was timely due to Oprah Winfrey's current fascination with Tolle's tomes and for believers who are being lured by his de-caf spirituality.  

Stay in The Book.

Campi


The Way I See It #37
“Embrace this right now life while its dripping; while flavors are excellently wholesome. Take your bites with bravery and boldness since the learning and the growing are here in these times, these exact right nows. Capture these times. Because it will soon be very different." –Jill Scott (Musician. Her songs can be heard on Starbucks Hear Musictm station, XM Satellite Radio Channel 75). (BTW, Jill Scott is an amazing R&B, Jazz singer. If you have never heard her fluid, effortless, velvet vocal talents before, check out some of her free sound bites and enjoy this gifted woman over your favorite “cup of Joe.”)

Cup #37 seems to be drawing from the Eckhart Tolle philosophy (living in the now is the truest path to happiness and enlightenment) in his tome “The Power of the Now.” Things such as enlightened relationships, creative use of the mind, impermanence, and the cycle of life are the essentials in this kind of philosophy. IOW - savor everything in its entirety for the present because we will never have these moments again as they are afforded to us "in the now" - right now. Life changes too quickly—so capture the moment to the fullest and drink it to the dregs. Learn to “be”; not just “become.”

What would you say to someone at St. Arbucks if you dialogged with them over “cup #37”?

The Way God Sees It
The biblical world-view is quite different from what is quoted above. Man was created in God’s image to obey, love, enjoy and serve Him--not the self, nor the moment. We were made for His pleasure--not simply our own. It is what Piper calls "Christian Hedonism" (even though Geerhardus Vos was the original coiner of this view). It is finding your greatest satisfaction in the selfish pursuit of knowing and glorifying God. But when sin entered this world through Adam’s disobedience (Romans 5:12-18), man then began to serve the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:18ff); and there is no greater idol than self, consumed with only savoring to the fullest its present occupations. Unguarded pleasure; unbridled passion and unbroken pride - the unholy trinity of postmodern idealism.

In a small way, we can all identify with Ms. Scott's philosophy; for we also seek to “seize the day”—Carpe Diem, don't we? But Scripture is clear, we are not simply to live with the urgency of the moment just to “capture these times.” We live, as God's creatures, in light of eternity. In Him "we move and live and have our being" (Acts 17:28). We desire to do all things to God's glory (Psalm 115:1). We are to live in light of eternity (2 Cor. 5:11-21). Being a member of “The Dead Poets Society” breeds a romantic, unpredictable, untamed, free momentary “reckless abandon” that is curiously inviting--but doesn't quench the thirst, even for "the now."

But what ignites Carpe Diem and gives substance, meaning, purpose (sorry) and clarity “with bravery and boldness; [in the] learning and the growing; to embrace the right now life while its dripping” (good pun) is living each day Coram Dei – “before the face of God." That is where "the now" finds its greatest fulfillment--its only fulfillment. And this, biblically, is only possible through the gospel by knowing Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior and King.

So as Christians, let's not be embalmed with the truth; looking like nothing more than frontal pieces for the book of Lamentations; LET"S LIVE IT! Experience the reality of Carpe Diem in Coram Dei. And do so with joy, living daily in the presence of His glory--being salt and light to a lost world around you. “Whether you eat or drink, whatever you do; do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

Every day we live on "Mars Hill" in some fashion. Every day we have the opportunity to tell others about the knowable Triune God of the Scriptures through Jesus Christ our Lord. "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."" -Acts 17:30-31

So when ministering at the Church of St. Arbucks, if you get cup #37 today, biblically encourage those to see the necessity of eternity (Coram Dei), in the now (Carpe Diem). Point them to the certainty that there is a Sovereign Judge to whom we must all give an account one day. That there will be a judgment; and how they live "now," to quote Gladiator, “echoes in eternity.” Will it be for God’s glory, or our own momentary fulfillment?

"What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."
-James 4:14b-15

Begin doing evangelism today in your community... one cup at a time.

AMERICA HAS CHOSEN A PRESIDENTby Dr. Al Mohler

This is simply the best commentary I have read all day from any journalist or Christian leader. 

May I commend highly your heart and mind to the lucid and circumspect words of Dr. Al Mohler. Read it carefully, thoughtfully, thoroughly, and biblically.

Romans 13

Steve

by Dr. Al Mohler

The election of Sen. Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States came as a bang, not a whimper. The tremors had been perceptible for days, maybe even weeks. On Tuesday, America experienced nothing less than a political and cultural earthquake.

The margin of victory for the Democratic ticket was clear. Americans voted in record numbers and with tangible enthusiasm. By the end of the day, it was clear that Barack Obama would be elected with a majority of the popular vote and a near landslide in the Electoral College. When President-Elect Obama greeted the throngs of his supporters in Chicago's Grant Park, he basked in the glory of electoral energy.

For many of us, the end of the night brought disappointment. In this case, the disappointment is compounded by the sense that the issues that did not allow us to support Sen. Obama are matters of life and death -- not just political issues of heated debate. Furthermore, the margin of victory and sense of a shift in the political landscape point to greater disappointments ahead. We all knew that so much was at stake.

For others, the night was magical and momentous. Young and old cried tears of amazement and victory as America elected its first African-American President -- and elected him overwhelmingly. Just forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, an African-American stood to claim victory as President-Elect of the nation. As Sen. Obama assured the crowd in Chicago and the watching nation, "We will get there. We will get there." No one hearing those words could fail to hear the refrain of plaintive words spoken in Memphis four decades ago. President-Elect Obama would stand upon the mountaintop that Dr. King had foreseen.

That victory is a hallmark moment in history for all Americans -- not just for those who voted for Sen. Obama. As a nation, we will never think of ourselves the same way again. Americans rich and poor, black and white, old and young, will look to an African-American man and know him as President of the United States. The President. The only President. The elected President. Our President.

Every American should be moved by the sight of young African-Americans who -- for the first time -- now believe that they have a purchase in American democracy. Old men and old women, grandsons and granddaughters of slaves and slaveholders, will look to an African-American as President.

Regardless of politics, could anyone remain unmoved by the sight of Jesse Jackson crying alone amidst the crowd in Chicago? This dimension of Election Day transcends politics and touches the heart of the American people.

Yet, the issues and the politics remain. Given the scale of the Democratic victory, the political landscape will be completely reshaped. The fight for the dignity and sanctity of unborn human beings has been set back by a great loss, and by the election of a President who has announced his intention to sign the Freedom of Choice Act into law. The struggle to protect marriage against its destruction by redefinition is now complicated by the election of a President who has declared his aim to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. On issue after issue, we face a longer, harder, and more protracted struggle than ever before.

Still, we must press on as advocates for the unborn, for the elderly, for the infirm, and for the vulnerable. We must redouble our efforts to defend marriage and the integrity of the family. We must be vigilant to protect religious liberty and the freedom of the pulpit. We face awesome battles ahead.

At the same time, we must be honest and recognize that the political maps are being redrawn before our eyes. Will the Republican Party decide that conservative Christians are just too troublesome for the party and see the pro-life movement as a liability? There is the real danger that the Republicans, stung by this defeat, will adopt a libertarian approach to divisive moral issues and show conservative Christians the door.

Others will declare these struggles over, arguing that the election of Sen. Obama means that Americans in general -- and many younger Evangelicals in particular -- are ready to "move on" to other issues. This is no time for surrender or the abandonment of our core principles. We face a much harder struggle ahead, but we have no right to abandon the struggle.

We should look for opportunities to work with the new President and his administration where we can. We must hope that he will lead and govern as the bridge-builder he claimed to be in his campaign. We must confront and oppose the Obama administration where conscience demands, but work together where conscience allows.

Evangelical Christians face another challenge with the election of Sen. Obama, and a failure to rise to this challenge will bring disrepute upon the Gospel, as well as upon ourselves. There must be absolutely no denial of the legitimacy of President-Elect Obama's election and no failure to accord this new President the respect and honor due to anyone elected to that high office. Failure in this responsibility is disobedience to a clear biblical command.

Beyond this, we must commit ourselves to pray for this new President, for his wife and family, for his administration, and for the nation. We are commanded to pray for rulers, and this new President faces challenges that are not only daunting but potentially disastrous. May God grant him wisdom. He and his family will face new challenges and the pressures of this office. May God protect them, give them joy in their family life, and hold them close together.

We must pray that God will protect this nation even as the new President settles into his role as Commander in Chief, and that God will grant peace as he leads the nation through times of trial and international conflict and tension.

We must pray that God would change President-Elect Obama's mind and heart on issues of our crucial concern. May God change his heart and open his eyes to see abortion as the murder of the innocent unborn, to see marriage as an institution to be defended, and to see a host of issues in a new light. We must pray this from this day until the day he leaves office. God is sovereign, after all.

Without doubt, we face hard days ahead. Realistically, we must expect to be frustrated and disappointed. We may find ourselves to be defeated and discouraged. We must keep ever in mind that it is God who raises up nations and pulls them down, and who judges both nations and rulers. We must not act or think as unbelievers, or as those who do not trust God.

America has chosen a President. President-Elect Barack Obama is that choice, and he faces a breathtaking array of challenges and choices in days ahead. This is the time for Christians to begin praying in earnest for our new President. There is no time to lose.

TRUE WOMAN MANIFESTO...discover and embrace God's design for your life

updated

There is an interesting conference taking place this week for women led by author and radio personality Nancy Leigh DeMoss. NLD has written a very good document called, True Woman Manifesto. It is a declaration of the biblical call for women to live as God has intended.

I have read it and it is very well done. I hope it will be a blessing to all of the women who visit this blog in their walks with the Lord. Also, make sure you listen to Piper's opening message: money!

Grace and peace,
Steve

PS - Some of you might remember this past year of a blogging live software I featured on this blog called: Cover It Live. Well Tim Challies has discovered it and is live-blogging this woman's conference. He is doing a very good job and I would encourage you to check it out and participate in the discussion there. It is a great tool for content sharing and exchanging ideas and questions during a conference like this one.

RICK WARREN AND THE SADDLEBACK FAITH FORUM - POWERFUL AND REVEALING...Obama was Postmodern; McCain was Presidential

In some past posts I have been very critical of Rick Warren for aspects of his Purpose Driven Life campaign; his environmental climate initiative, thinking he can cure world hunger, his convoluted 2006 conference on AIDS, and his more pragmatic approach to evangelism. BUT, when he gets it right I am not afraid to say so; and this past Saturday night he really got it right!

Rick Warren was absolutely brilliant. He was lucid, inviting and incisive in how he worded the questions; probed in follow up inquiries; and he kept the evening civil, uniform, and on point. I agree with Charles Krauthammer that this was the best political forum of two Presidential candidates that I have ever witnessed in any venue in recent American politics. The voters on both sides of the aisle were given an honest view of each candidate. I also appreciated that Warren allowed each candidate the freedom to express their convictions without he as the moderator coloring their respective ideological platforms to suit his own political views on the same issues he was asking. IOW, Warren purposely kept himself out of the way and let the candidates have their say. (PMSNBC, CNN, FOXNEWS, CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS were you going to school?)

My conclusion of the faith forum outcome? McCain knocked it out of the park (which I wasn't prepared for) and Obama was more the empty suit than I ever could have imagined. This was a clear case of truth over nuance. McCain was commanding, Obama was conversational; McCain was Presidential, Obama was post-modern; McCain knew the issues, Obama needed his TelePrompTer.

This post could be one of the longest I have ever written. But for the sake of time and thoughtfulness for you the loyal and discerning reader at COT, I have chosen instead to feature below two video segments from the faith forum - one from each candidate. And if you missed this forum, here is the transcript for your further perusal.

Be sure to VOTE; but then accept the results from the only true Sovereign God who is the One who will set men in places of power and leadership over the affairs of men for His own purpose and glory. Amen?

The Cross Waves Higher Than the Flag
Steve
Romans 13:1-7; 1 Tim. 2:1-4; 1 Peter 2:13-17


Obama was nuanced, postmodern and charming




McCain was straightforward, commanding and Presidential

WAS THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION UNBIBLICAL?...by Brannon Howse

Liberals love it when conservatives fight among themselves—especially when the battle centers around whether or not America is truly based on a biblical foundation and God’s providential work. In case you’re blissfully ignorant about the controversy, let me explain.

A nationally known pastor and Bible teacher, that I appreciate and agree with most of the time, has actually written that the founding of America was a sin:

"Over the past several centuries, people have mistakenly linked democracy and political freedom to Christianity. That’s why many contemporary evangelicals believe the American Revolution was completely justified, both politically and scripturally. They follow the arguments of the Declaration of Independence, which declares that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are divinely endowed rights.

Therefore those believers say such rights are part of a Christian worldview, worth attaining and defending at all cost including military insurrection at times. But such a position is contrary to the clear teachings and commands of Romans 13:1-7. So the United States was actually born out of a violation of New Testament principles, and any blessings God has bestowed on America have come in spite of that disobedience by the Founding Fathers." 

When you combine a lack of knowledge about the American Revolution with a wrongly applied interpretation of Romans 13, you end up with good conservative Christians adding to the misinformation about our Founders and believing that America was established by an unchristian rebellion.

My friend and regular Worldview Weekend speaker, David Barton, has written a paper entitled “Was the American Revolution a Biblically Justified Act?” in which he notes:

The Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, Congregationalists, and most other Christian denominations during the American Revolution believed that Romans 13 meant they were not to overthrow government as an institution and live in anarchy. This passage does not mean they had to submit to every civil law. Note that in Hebrews 11, a number of those who made the cut in the “Faith Hall of Fame” as heroes of the faith were guilty of civil disobedience—including Daniel, the three Hebrew Children, the Hebrew Midwives, Moses, etc.…

If the Founding Fathers had removed themselves from underneath the authority of Great Britain because they were choosing anarchy over an established government, then that would be a violation of Romans 13. Although Romans 13 is not an endorsement of every [form of] government, it is a description of what God says is the proper role of civil government.

In Scripture, God initiates several realms of authority in human governance: family, church, and state. We take these to be the normal pattern of social interaction, and civilizations throughout history have reflected these in some form. Simply because the presence of these institutions is normative, however, we should not expect every instance of them to be acceptable.

For example: fathers are the God-ordained head of the family. But those who physically and emotionally abuse their children and wives have perverted their position of authority by their unbridled acts of violence against the very ones that he is commanded by God to love sacrificially as Christ loved His church (Eph. 5:25-26). Almost all would agree, that he should be removed as head of that family in protection for his family. Wives and children should not passively accept in any form any physical abuse whatsoever, just because the concept of family government places the father as head of the home. God has created family government, but that does not mean abusive actions by the head of the family is endorsed by God. On the contrary, it is abhorred by God and a violation of His Word (Eph. 5:22-31; 6:1-5; 1 Cor. 13).

To illustrate further, few people would disagree that a pastor or elder of a local church should be honored in leadership—his God-ordained position of authority—if the leader is guilty of grave moral and ethical failures (1 Tim. 3:1-9; Titus 1:4-9; 1 Cor. 9:21ff). Christians who attend a church where a pastor remains unrepentant of the failure to continually fulfill his biblical duty as an under-shepherd of Jesus Christ by violating God’s standards and faithfulness to His Word in life and/or doctrine (1 Tim. 4:12-16; 5:21-24; Titus 3:9-10), should remove themselves from that church and find one that complies with God’s principles. As the Apostle Peter so aptly states:

"So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." -1 Peter 5:1-4

Which brings us to the arena of civil government. Romans 13 articulates God’s specific plan and purpose for state authorities. As with church and family rule, God does not condone every individual political leader in every form of government that emerges. God has designed government and granted them the responsibility to punish the wicked and reward and protect the righteous (cf, Roms. 13:1-7). But as in the examples given above, there will be wicked and corrupt political leadership that will pervert and abuse the authority granted to them by God in the maintaining of the order and governing of society. Nazi Germany failed spectacularly in that calling. Likewise, Stalinist Russia. These modern examples are easy to judge. Yet the picture becomes similarly clear for America’s early history when we understand the nature of eighteenth century British rule over the colonies.

In light of these principles, did our founding fathers really act in disobedience to Romans 13 against the tyrannical reign of the King of England? On the contrary. For eleven years, our Founders petitioned the King of Great Britain to cease his unlawful, unbiblical actions against the colonials. Although the monarch ignored their grievances, they remained under his authority until he sent 25,000 troops into the colonies for the purpose of seizing property, invading homes, and imprisoning people without trials. The king’s actions violated his own British common law, the English Bill of Rights, and the centuries-old - Magna Carta.

It was only once King George III started down the path of violent suppression, the Founders announced their intent to separate from Great Britain. They wrote at length that they were involved in self-defense, which they rightly believed was biblically acceptable. British troops fired the first shot in every confrontation leading up to the Revolutionary War—the Massacre of 1770, the bombing of Boston in 1774, and the Lexington and Concord engagements of 1775. In addition, as Dr. Marshall Foster of the Mayflower Institute has noted, there were settlers living in America for well over one hundred years that had nothing to do with the British colonies and King George's claim to governmental authority over them.

Unless you are an extreme thoroughgoing pacifist, there is no basis for saying the Founders sinned in defending themselves against King George’s troops and their terrorist tactics against the colonists. Biblically, there is merit for a just war, and for just civil political disobedience. The Founders’ fight was not a “military insurrection.” Our early leaders took seriously their standing before God and believed He could bless a war of defense, but not a war of offense. They fought to protect their own lives and those of their family and friends.

Many Christians get queasy over the subject of “civil disobedience” and invoke Romans 13 to avoid the responsibility of standing up to a deviant government. While I agree it is crucial that Christians pursue civil disobedience only when obeying government requires us to disobey God, Scripture offers clear direction on when such action is acceptable. Kerby Anderson points out the following biblical principles for civil disobedience:

1. The law or injunction being resisted should clearly be unjust and unbiblical.
2. The means of redress should be exhausted.
3. Christians must be willing to accept the penalty for breaking the law.
4. Civil disobedience should be carried out in love and with humility.
5. Civil disobedience should be considered only when there is some possibility of success.

The Founding Fathers did not violate New Testament principles when they instituted American independence and it is critical that we close ranks on this fundamental issue. Now, were all the Founders dedicated Christians of our Lord Jesus Christ? Of course not. And though America is not a Christian nation, it is undeniable that our nation was founded under God’s guiding hand—not in spite of it. Whether or not we continue in the godly heritage of the first Americans is a vital concern, but it’s one that should be debated between “us” and “them,” not between “us” and “us.”

Click here to listen to "Worldview Matters" where Tim Wilmdon of the American Family Association and Dr. Marshall Foster of the Mayflower Institute and I discuss nationally known Bible teacher, author and pastor, Dr. John MacArthur's comments on this issue from a radio program that aired July 12, 2008. It is a helpful and must listen to.

Brannon Howse is the president and founder of Worldview Weekend 

and author of "One Nation Under Man: The Worldview War Between Christians and the Secular Left,"