A short op-ed: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the news media that’s allegedly not telling us the “full story.”

Pardon me for this unusual second post in one day, but the weary old brain neurons started firing up this morning and were soon jumping synapses like young kangaroos.

Uh-oh. Here I go, venturing into politics again. Well, this is more of an observation on the views of some American Christians in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that I needed to write about.

We know the various news media push their particular political views, CNN at one extreme and FOX at the other. Political conservatives have charged the mainstream media is untrustworthy and the purveyor of “fake news.” I get it. Journalists on either end of the political spectrum aren’t above bending the news to fit their particular agenda.

What’s troubling is that after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine beginning on February 24th, some American Christians have charged that we cannot trust the mainstream news media’s coverage of the assault. We’re hearing from some that we’re not getting the “full story,” implying that Putin has some valid reasons for invading Ukraine, as if journalistic reporting that’s critical of Putin, Russia, and the invasion is part of a Leftist media conspiracy. I’ve read these remarks by Christian bloggers here at WordPress. Implicit in these comments is the paradigm popularized in preceding years by some conservative politicians and politically-minded American Christians that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is an admirable man, a defender of “Christian values” at the eastern end of a morally corrupt Europe. The same folks vilified NATO and called for the United States to disengage from the alliance. Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine absolutely refutes this bizarrely misguided paradigm.

As someone who grew up under the darkest “brinkmanship” clouds of the Cold War (i.e., “duck and cover” drills in grammar school), I was amazed at this “rehabilitation” of Vladimir Putin in some quarters as an admirable crusader and the call for the U.S. to withdraw from NATO. It’s sheer insanity and head-in-the-sand denial of geo-political realities. I have absolutely no doubt that Russian operatives were helping to fuel this paradigm via social media. Russia had its “polezni durak,” useful idiots in the West during the Soviet decades and now in the era of Putinism.

As Christians, we are to keep our focus on Jesus Christ rather than on the stormy worldly circumstances, but that doesn’t mean we must pretend the raging sea is calm and waves aren’t lapping over the sides of the boat. Believers in Ukraine cling to Christ as their lives are threatened and their nation crumbles around them. We pray many unsaved Ukrainians turn to Jesus Christ and accept Him as their Savior.

Brinkmanship? It’s back. Pro-Putinism in America? Sheer lunacy.

Exegeting CNN’s Don Lemon

I’m trying to be apolitical. I believe Christians living in America have historically been way too devoted to politics and nationalism, with many even going so far as to claim America was in a special, covenantal relationship with God similar to ancient Israel. I believe we Christians need to think of ourselves more as ambassadors for the Lord and His Kingdom rather than deeply-rooted temporal citizens.

I have a Christian friend who is VERY politically-minded. This individual is actually a fan of the Democratic Party. How can that be, you ask? The person is admittedly not happy that the Democratic Party fully supports abortion and the LGBT agenda, but believes that the DP, as a whole, represents a more caring and compassionate brand of political leadership than the Republican Party, especially in light of the last 3.5 years with President Donald Trump in office. This individual is not alone. Surveys show that around 25% of “evangelical Christians” support the Democratic Party.

Anyway, I recently came across a news item that I couldn’t wait to share with my friend. CNN hosts, Don Lemon (photo left) and Chris Cuomo, were recently having a discussion about Black Lives Matter and the current reevaluation of America’s founding fathers in light of the fact that many of them were slave owners.

Lemon argued that BLM is right to critically reexamine the founding fathers and tried to hammer home his point with the following ignorant remark:

“Jesus Christ, if that’s who you believe in, Jesus Christ, admittedly was not perfect when he was here on this earth. So why are we deifying the founders of this country, many of whom owned slaves?”

Well, EVERY Bible-believing, blood-bought, born-again Christian would surely recognize the folly of Lemon’s statement, or at least that is what I thought. Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, DID live a life of sinless perfection here on this earth. He lived a perfect life and offered Himself as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. But Jesus conquered sin and death when He rose from the grave and offers forgiveness and eternal life to all who repent of their sin and accept Him as Savior by faith alone.

It was clear from Lemon’s statement that he is not a student of the Bible or a disciple of Jesus Christ. I presented the 2:45-minute video snippet of Lemon’s remarks (see below) to my Democratic Party-loving friend along with a few of my critical comments. In response, the individual claimed that I had misinterpreted Lemon’s remarks. According to my friend, what Don Lemon meant by “Jesus Christ admittedly was not perfect” was either (A) that Jesus was clothed in imperfect human flesh or (B) that Jesus was tempted in all ways, yet without sin. Hmm. Those interpretations were awkward and naive attempts to push a square block through a round hole. In the context of his remarks, Lemon was clearly attempting to present Jesus Christ as having been morally imperfect. My friend and I debated Lemon’s intended meaning for awhile, but the conversation quickly turned personal as usually happens when my friend and I discuss politics, so I dropped it.

Lemon’s remark about Jesus Christ begins at the 1:34 mark in the video below:

 

 

The bottom line for me: both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are part of the world system and will come to an end some day.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones examines “Church and the State”

After returning to the Lord in 2014 after my very long prodigal “season,” the Lord introduced me to some solid Bible teachers, past and present, including D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981). I’ve read several books by and about MLJ and also enjoyed the 2015 documentary, “Logic on Fire,” about the life and ministry of the Doctor.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, I desired to read some more about/from MLJ so I downloaded “Lloyd-Jones on the Christian Life” by Jason Meyer to my Kindle (review to follow). While reading that book, I thought about another resource, the MLJ Trust. I was vaguely aware that Lloyd-Jones’ former ministerial assistant and biographer, Iain H. Murray, had collected the Doctor’s recorded sermons and made them available via the MLJ Trust website. I was curious if MLJ Trust had a smart phone app and, sure enough, they do! I downloaded the free app to my iPhone and, voilà, I now have access to 1600 of the Doctor’s sermons. Wow!

I quickly browsed the list of MLJ’s sermons and stumbled across a series of six sermons on “Church and the State” delivered on successive Friday evenings in January-February, 1967. Friends of this blog know the topic of the church’s relationship to the state is something I am very interested in. Roman Catholicism took its cue from Constantine and the Roman imperial model and continued to fuse together church and state. The early Reformers regrettably continued this error to a degree and when the Pilgrims and Puritans settled in Massachusetts, they established semi-theocracies. The Puritans preached that America was the New Israel and that its citizens were in covenant relationship with God and enjoyed special blessings and prerogatives thereby. That thinking was perpetuated from American pulpits for four-hundred years, although the genuine Gospel preached by the Puritans was gradually replaced over time in mainline denominations by a watered-down, social gospel. The God of the Bible was replaced by the nebulous deity/higher power of American “civil religion.” American civil religion infiltrated the church resulting in national citizenship superceding spiritual citizenship in God’s Kingdom. Americans of all denominations, Protestants and Catholics (and even Jews), could harmoniously join together in singing “God Bless America,” “America the Beautiful,” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”

After Americans became increasingly secularized in the 60s, 70s, and 80’s, Jerry Falwell and his Moral Majority drew a line in the sand and attempted to return America back to “Judeo-Christian” values. Some high-profile ministers like Franklin Graham, Robert Jeffress, and Jerry Falwell, Jr. continue Jerry Sr.’s crusade to “return America back to Jesus.” Regrettably, alliances formed with pseudo-Christian religionists in the cause of shared political and cultural concerns has led many temporal-minded evangelicals to overlook doctrinal differences and compromise the Gospel via ecumenism.

The church has been struggling for two-thousand years to define its proper relationship with the state, but it’s clear from history that the church has erred way too far on the side of church-state alliance. I fully realize that the deeply-rooted concept of America as a “Christian nation” continues to be quite popular amongst American Christians.

Okay, time to step down from my soap box and get to the crux of this post.

In the six sermons below, Martyn Lloyd-Jones thoroughly examines the relationship between church and state including the regrettable historical record and what the Bible teaches. It’s one of the best treatments I’ve ever seen or heard on this topic. Lloyd-Jones has much to say about the Roman Catholic model and the dangers of ecumenism. I’ve provided a link to the MLJ Trust website for each individual sermon. You can also download the MLJ Trust app to your smart phone and search “church and the state” to easily find the six sermons:

Church and The State (1)
Church and state; ecumenism; church and state under Christ’s authority; Constantine; Roman Catholic teaching; Wycliffe; the Reformation; Erastianism; Luther; the Church of England; religious toleration.

https://www.mljtrust.org/search/?q=%233337

Church and The State (2)
Church and state essentially different; common grace; the differences explained; value of history; Luther; Zwingli; Calvin; Belgic Confession on magistrates; Puritans; Presbyterians; Westminster Confession on magistrates; Melville; two kings; two kingdoms.

https://www.mljtrust.org/search/?q=%233338

Church and The State (3)
Pilgrim Fathers and American colonists; Separatists; Cromwell; the ‘Free Church idea’; Roger Williams; the Commonwealth; democracy; the Ejection of 1662; established churches.

https://www.mljtrust.org/search/?q=%233339

Church and The State (4)
Church-state relations unknown in New Testament; Old Testament appealed to; Israel’s position unique; Christ’s kingdom not of this world; confusing the world and the Church.

https://www.mljtrust.org/search/?q=%233340

Church and The State (5)
Summary of teaching; lesson of history; traditionalism; the state cannot Christianize society; parable of the leaven misunderstood; no gradual advance; except in the Church.

https://www.mljtrust.org/search/?q=%233341

Church and The State (6)
The lordship of Christ; tension between the two kingdoms; the Church should lay down principles; freedom; education; the arts; science; law; morality; individual Christians may influence society.

https://www.mljtrust.org/search/?q=%233342

Alistair Begg – The Kingdom of God vs. the kingdoms of this world

After my wife and I accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior in 1983, we began attending at our first Gospel-preaching church and remained there for eight years. The church had a lot of good points, but also some regrettable ones. The church patterned itself after Jerry Falwell’s brand of fundamentalism and mimicked Falwell’s penchant for mixing Christianity with politics and nationalism from the pulpit. This and several other factors grated on us until we finally had to leave.

The universal church of all believers (and also faux institutional (c)hristianity) has been trying to define its proper relationship with the state for close to two millennia and has largely erred on the side of close collaboration. Roman Catholicism set the trend by adopting the Roman imperial model, the Reformers continued it to a degree, and the Puritans imported it to the New World with America being cast in the role of the New Israel.

In the 70s, 80s, and 90s, Falwell and friends enlisted evangelical churches in the culture battles against advancing secularism and the war continues. The fallout? The church put the Gospel on the back burner and forged coalitions with political conservatives of various non-Christian traditions. More fallout? Growing ecumenism at the expense of the Gospel.

I’ve heard and read many presentations on the proper relationship between the church and the state, but the 25-minute sermon below, from evangelical pastor, Alistair Begg, might be the finest I’ve ever heard on the topic.

The Kingdom of God
Broadcast 7/24/19

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kingdom-of-god/id91473880?i=1000445195961

Civil Religion is the enemy of Biblical Christianity

This morning, I was reading through 2 Chronicles and came across the very familiar verse below:

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14

Oh, the memories!

Way back in the 1980s, my wife and I attended an independent fundamental Baptist church that patterned itself strongly after Jerry Falwell, Sr. and his Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Needless to say, faith and politics went hand in hand at our church. Our pastor took the position that America was in a special covenant relationship with Almighty God in much the same way as ancient Israel. He was not alone. Beginning with the voyage of the Puritan pilgrims to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620, American Christians have historically taken the view that America is a “Christian nation” and that God was in a covenant relationship with it.

Old Testament passages such as 2 Chronicles 7:14 that were meant only for the ancient nation of Israel were appropriated by patriotic American ministers. I believe 2 Chronicles 7:14 was quoted from the pulpit of our old church as much or possibly more than any other verse in the Bible.

What started me going on this topic?

Yesterday, I posted a review of an excellent book which examined how the early church was led down a dangerous path in which Christianity was mixed with Roman imperialism and paganism resulting in an institutionalized “civil religion.” See here.

Many Americans over the last 400 years genuinely accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior because of the strong Gospel witness here, but of course many others never did. Over the last 100 years there’s been a tremendous watering down of Biblical doctrine and the Gospel message in this country. The Gospel was increasingly replaced by “civil religion,” whereby Americans of all religious stripes could join arms and sing together, “God Bless America,” “America the Beautiful,” and “My Country ‘Tis Of Thee,” united in their citizenship and belief in a nebulous “Supreme Being.”

But “civil religion” is the enemy of Biblical Christianity. It opposes the teaching of Jesus Christ, who proclaims that He alone is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” “Civil Religion” denies the exclusivity of Jesus Christ and promotes accommodation, cooperation, compromise, and betrayal of the Gospel in the pursuit of civic morality and national brotherhood.

Jesus Christ did not come to this earth to establish “civil religion.” Countries don’t become Christians, only people do, one individual soul at a time.

Civil Religion – Wikipedia article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_religion

Christians, who are we?

When unbelievers look at us, do they see a people who are deeply committed to politics and to fighting the ongoing cultural/political wars engulfing this country and the world…

or

…do they see ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ who are deeply committed to serving Him and to sharing the Good News! of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone? This world is NOT our home, brothers and sisters!

“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” – Hebrews 11:13-16

Opinion: Prayer in public schools

I attended Catholic parochial grammar school in the 1960s and even though I was very young at the time, I can remember the nuns buzzing about the U.S. Supreme Court rulings banning conscripted prayer and Bible reading in public schools (Engel v. Vitale, 1962, Murray v. Curlett, 1963). I felt sorry for those poor kids in public schools for not being able to pray like me. By seventh grade, I was envying them.

The ban on school sanctioned prayer was an extremely bitter pill for evangelicals to swallow and remains a sour memory. The ban on school prayer was the first major defeat in the war to defend American “Christendom.” We’re still fuming about it 54 years later. But that was just the beginning. Since then, most every example of government-endorsed religious expression has been challenged in the courts with no end in sight.

From our history lessons, we know the Puritan Christian immigrants to this country could not imagine anything other than the theocratic form of government they imposed. Many universities got their start as church-sponsored seminaries. Mounting demand for religious freedom led to the prohibition of a state religion by the federal constitution adopted in 1793 but Christianity would remain as a major influence on federal, state, and local governments for 150 years. It was agreed from Maine to California that America was a “Christian nation.” Government sanctioned prayer and the reliance on Judeo-Christian laws, values, and “morality” were matters of unquestioned course. Americans had convinced themselves that God had set up a covenant relationship with the United States in the same way He had with ancient Israel; that America was THE “chosen” nation.

But things have changed in a big way in the last sixty years. The growing number of non-Christian immigrants to this country and those who rejected religion altogether began to challenge government’s sponsorship of Christianity. First to go was prayer in schools. Then Bible readings. Then such things as Christmas creches, etc., etc..

My take: Countries can’t be Christian, only people can accept Christ. We can no longer assume other citizens are Christians as was once accepted in this country. Christians can no longer impose their privileged status by claiming majority rule. That day is gone. That flag has flown. It’s obviously impossible to determine the number of genuine Christians in the U.S. but a 2014 Pew poll reveals only 25% of the population claims to be evangelical Christian (many say the actual number is quite a bit lower), 45% are mainline Protestant or Catholic, and the remaining 30% belong to other religions or are atheists/agnostics. The government is supported by taxpayers with a wide spectrum of beliefs regarding religion and it should be completely secular. If government sanctions one religious group it must in fairness sanction all of them. If we allow monuments of the Ten Commandments on our courthouse lawns we must also allow scripture from every other religious group. On second thought, the atheists will have something to say about that. No, government must be completely secular.

I choose not to pray with non-Christians. The Lord does not want me bowing my head in a prayer led by a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, etc. Why would Christian parents want their children to participate in prayers led by a Hindu or a New Ager in a public school? Christians look back with longing to a simpler time when the vast majority of people in this country professed to be Christians and the church had a strong influence throughout the culture. But the probable reality was that a very large number of professing Christians hadn’t accepted Christ at all but were just going along with the institutionalized flow imposed by American “Christendom.”

Christians, teach your children about the Lord every day in your homes. Bring them to church. But please stop complaining about prayer being banned from public schools back in 1962. Conscripted prayer in schools wasn’t a great idea then and it’s an even worse idea today. With America becoming increasingly secularized, maybe Christians can go back to spreading the Gospel instead of worrying about retaining their control of the culture or “reclaiming America for Christ.”

Nations are not Christian

“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.” – Luke 14:23

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we become servants of our Great King, God Almighty, and citizens of Heaven. Praise God! We become ambassadors and emissaries of our Father. Our mission: to give out the Gospel and lead others to Christ.

In Luke 14:23, the verse doesn’t say, Go out and plant your roots deeply in the lands in which you are sojourning. The verse doesn’t say get yourself deeply entangled in the cares and politics of the lands you are journeying through. The verse doesn’t say to join with the religious lost and politically conservative citizens of the country you’re traveling through to help them defend “morality” and make the nation “great again.”

Our King is in Heaven and His mission for us is to compel others to accept Christ so they can become citizens of Heaven also. Empires and nations of this world rise and fall but our King sits on an everlasting throne. Many Christians have not only unpacked their suitcases, they’ve thrown them into the dumpster. Their roots are deep into this world and this country and they worship at the altar of nationalism alongside the politically like-minded unsaved.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as FOREIGNERS and EXILES, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” – 1 Peter 2:11-12

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America not founded as a Christian nation, says Russell Moore, to say so would be ‘contrary to the Gospel’
http://www.christiantimes.com/article/america-not-founded-as-a-christian-nation-says-russell-moore-to-say-so-would-be-contrary-to-the-gospel/55202.htm

Trump? Hillary? How deeply are you invested?

Our 41-year-old, non-believing son is extremely proud of his country. He loves America and is frustrated that it’s no longer the dominant nation it was back in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Donald Trump’s message of “We’re going to make America great again” resonates with my son somewhat. But he’s also convinced the country’s top politicians and business leaders are conspiring with other world leaders to bring about the “New World Order,” which means a much weaker United States in their supposed grand scheme.

I know A LOT of Christians are patriotic. Many could even be called nationalistic. Me? The moment we accept Christ we become citizens of Heaven. We are only sojourners and emissaries of our Father for our remaining time here on Earth. Yes, we are to pray for our governmental authorities so that the Gospel can continue to go out unhindered, but our sights should be on our Heavenly home, NOT on this world. When we get up to Heaven, the Lord won’t care if we were Canadian citizens or American citizens. He’ll only want to know if we used the gifts He gave us to point others to Him. Many American Christians have made their country into an idol. Trump? Hillary? I can’t get too excited over any politician or any political party.

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” – Colossians 3:1-4

“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” – Hebrews 11:13-16

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21

If American evangelical Christians got half as worked up about Jesus Christ as they do about their country and politics we would see great things done in the name of the Lord. Can any believer point out to me where national pride is extolled in the New Testament? Unfortunately, generations of American evangelical pastors got sucked into mixing national idolatry with the Gospel.

My son and I have talked about politics many, many times and I always try to use it as an opportunity to talk to him about the Lord. Yes, many alarming things are happening in this country including the increasing threat of terrorism, the rising national debt, the elimination of the middle-class, continuing racial divisions, attacks on the traditional family and “morality,” etc. It’s all a nightmare without Jesus Christ. How does my son or anyone else make sense of it without Christ? When my son frets about ISIS, I bring him back to the story of Ishmael and Isaac in Genesis. The Lord foresaw the conflict 4000 years ago. God doesn’t hit people over the head with proof of His existence but one need only look at the nation of Israel – the size of the state of New Jersey – and see how the entire world spins around that one, small country to realize there just might be a little something to God and His promises.

The Lord is still on His throne. When we allow ourselves to become entangled in worldly concerns and temporal pridefulness we risk becoming useless servants for our King in Heaven.