Let’s look back to when Chris and Rich rounded out their discussion of Christian maturity by discussing the greatest trait of it: the love we have for God and for one another.
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Author: Chris Hohnholz (Page 19 of 40)
On June 5, 2021, professed Christian singer Latifah Alattas of “Page CXVI” publicly announced her affirmation of the LGBT community. Chris and Rich discuss the public statement she released on Facebook and biblically respond to her hermeneutic of “love.”
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We are facing an assault on the sufficiency of Scripture today. There are some who knowingly are importing ideologies of men with the specific intent of undermining Scripture. Others, more in love with the applause of the world than anything else, willingly turn a blind eye to the truth about these ideologies. They adopt the thinking of the world in order to appeal to the “unchurched” and bring them in the church doors. Still others, ignorant of the truth of God’s Word and persuaded by the emotional rhetoric fall prey to the false teaching of man-made doctrines. They do so, believing that the warm, fuzzy feeling they have is confirmation they are being “loving” to others by affirming their “lived experiences” rather than examining their claims against the light of Scripture.
In all such cases, the sufficiency of the Word of God is eroded and rejected. Those who seek to undermine Scripture do so purposely. They see the sufficiency of Scripture as an obstacle to their goals and agenda. Doubt must be cast on the Bible, instilling in people’s minds that Scripture just doesn’t address these “important matters.” Thus, we must turn to the worldview of man to seek true justice and peace. Only by importing these man-made definitions can the Bible be rightly applied in these matters. Only by looking through the lens of man rather than of God can we achieve justice and peace. Sufficiency is rejected purposely and intentionally by those seeking societal transformation.
Those who are enticed by the allure of fame and acceptance by the world know the Bible is sufficient, but it would cost them to stand upon it. God’s Word indeed addresses all areas for life and godliness in the lives of believers. Yet, it calls Christians to reject the ways of the world. To submit wholly and completely to God, for His purposes and His glory alone. This call to holiness is hated by the world and the “unchurched” want nothing to do with it. Therefore, the compromiser seeks to tamp down God’s revealed Word and adopts language and techniques the world likes. All this is done under the guise of being “all things to all people” but in reality, it too erodes the sufficiency of Scripture because it trusts that drawing through addressing felt needs is more important than calling people to die to and for Christ alone.
The last group is deficient and malnourished. They have not only not been taught the Word, they have failed to feast on the sumptuous delicacies the Word has to offer. They have not sought nourishment in God’s Word and hold to the belief they can generate all they need by trusting in their feelings. They waste away from lack of spiritual food. Thanks to a meager diet of junk ideology, they attempt to apply love and care in the life of others but do so with little to no understanding of the biblical definitions of either. When presented with an ideology that defines love to mean making people feel better, they grab onto it, believing it sounds and feels right. They trust not in God’s Word which tells us that if we are to love Christ, then we are to obey His commandments. The Bible isn’t seen as sufficient because it has never been sought after to nourish the professed believer.
In all cases, the ideologies of men are lifted up as the means by which Christians ought to model their life and practice. Sure, the Bible is important, but: it doesn’t allow us to remodel society; it doesn’t put people in the pews in large numbers; and it doesn’t always make us feel great about ourselves. Therefore, we must temper the Bible with the doctrines of men. Utter nonsense!!
God’s Word speaks to all this and more! Christians must cease looking to ourselves and others for our life and practice. God has given us all we need in His revealed Word to save us, equip us, grow us, and send us into the world to make disciples. His Word is inspired, inerrant, infallible, and ALL-SUFFICIENT! Nothing in this world that man has to offer comes close. We either seek first God’s Word, applying it to our entire lives, or we deny God has truly spoken. That is our choice. It is either God’s Word or man’s woefully weak opinions. There is no middle ground.
Tune in for a special edition episode as Chris Huff of “Matter of Theology” and Andrew Rappaport of “Striving for Eternity” join Chris for a live recording of VOR from the Cruciform Conference. They have a round table discussion of why Christians should seek to be “Still Standing” in an age when the world is coming against the church.
Join Chris this week as he and Andy Olson have their annual “Discussion Cornucopia” on a variety of topics.
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On this 200th episode of Voice of Reason Radio, Dr. James White joins Chris and Rich to discuss apologetics, the Christian worldview, and the myth of neutrality. There was no stone left unturned as Dr. White helps Christians understand the absolute need for standing firm on the Word of God.
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This week, Chris and Rich discuss the biblical outworking of husbands loving their wives (and wives submitting to their husbands) as an act of glorifying Christ.
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Fighting the Culture War With Truth Series
I know a lot of us are weary of the current cultural warfare. Some of us simply never want to hear the terms Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, Marxism, etc, ever again. If we could just wipe them out of lives, we would be happy beyond measure. I can identify with that. This seems to be all-consuming. It is everywhere. I would love to see and be part of just about any other conversation. Some days, it feels like it is never going to end and we are all battle weary.
Yet, at the same time, this battle is perhaps one of the most important we’ve engaged in for our generation. I’m not talking about the politics (though it is a huge component of what is going on), I’m referring to the spiritual. What this cultural war has revealed is the lack of spiritual maturity going on in the professing Church at large. Many self-identified Christians are either ignorant of Scripture or believe their personal feelings and experiences supplant Scripture. The very core of the cultural war is the battle for the sufficiency of Scripture.
There is little doubt that CRT and similar ideologies will one day collapse in on themselves. Critical Theory systems depend on the idea that there must always be oppressor and oppressed classes. Eventually, competing oppressed classes will come into conflict with one another. Somebody’s victim status is going to demand to be considered more important than another victim status. Thus, competition between victim classes will result in a new oppressor/oppressed battle within currently allied groups. When that happens, when they start eating their own (something that is already happening) the movement will begin to collapse.
Of course, should the Critical Theory promoters actually achieve their stated goals and create a Neo-Marxist “utopia,” then all victim groups will no longer be useful to those in control. They will be dismissed as dissidents to be pushed down, isolated, and ignored. All one needs is a cursory understanding of history to recognize this to be true. Only the willfully deluded will believe “that won’t happen this time.” In either scenario, the existing Critical Theory movement will diminish and fall apart.
But, that is not something we should settle for. Why? Because the very core beliefs that allow for the existence of such a movement will never go away. Critical Theory exists because it descends from previous leftist ideologies. Post-modernism, Neo-Marxism, the Frankfurt School, political activism, and more are the very progenitors of the existing Critical Theory system. Each rose and fell as an ideology or movement, but their very beliefs were passed down and retained within our cultural system. Much of how we think today has been affected. Even those of us who are opposed to Critical theory find ourselves speaking of having one’s own truth, not judging others, there not being only one way, etc. We may not realize it because it has become so ubiquitous, but much of Western Culture, and even the Christian church have been inculcated with the beliefs of these systems.
Once evidence of this is the failed “Emergent Church” movement. Emergent church “preachers” prided themselves in not knowing anything for certain. They asked all kinds of questions, but never really wanted solid answers. Certainty of anything was the only real sin. It was arrogant and prideful to believe anyone could know exactly what God had said. This movement was all the rage, for a time. Eventually, all questions and no answers mean you don’t really have anything to stand on. Without a firm foundation, you sink into the mire of your own creation. And such did the Emergent movement. But, not without leaving a lasting effect.
People may not have called themselves Emergent, but many professed Christians were impacted by its teachings. Uncertainty about the Word of God and a love for one’s own feelings grew in Evangelicalism. The leaven had taken root and grown in churches around America. People still take great pride in believing that it is humble to not stand firmly on doctrine. That genuine love is letting people find their own path and not insisting on believing all of God’s Word is true or sufficient.
Now, the impact from that system, the widespread roots of it are bearing fruit in the Woke Church. Since we need not believe God’s Word has the final say on all things, that our own feelings and lived experiences have equal authority, this became fertile ground to implant Woke ideology. Now, those that once believed we couldn’t be certain about God’s Word believe that people’s own stories can be given equal to or greater weight than Scripture. As Solomon wrote, “There is nothing new under the sun.”
The cultural battle is important because the war of worldviews is important. You either submit to the worldview of God in Scripture or you espouse the worldview of man. Christians cannot abdicate their place in this battle. We must be people of the Book. We must expose “plausible arguments” for the fraud they really are. We must tear down the strongholds of the world and shine the light of God’s gospel as revealed in His Word. I know you are weary, brethren. I know you wish the battle to end. But, until the final trumpet sounds and our Savior returns triumphant, we have much to do and disciples to make. Take heart, do not be weary in doing good. Your Savior and His gospel are worth it.
It’s Rewind Time as we look back at an uber-sized episode, where Chris and Rich compare Scripture with Scripture to refute the oft claimed false teaching that Acts 4 teaches socialism.
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It is a crossover of epic proportions as Chris Huff and Drew Von Nieda of the Matter of Theology Podcast join Chris and Rich this week! Take part in a round table discussion of the danger of pragmatism in the church and the rotten fruit it has produced in our world today.
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