Freedom

Freedom

What makes a people truly free and where do our rights come from?

How can the government give to us what God alone can give, and that which comes directly from Him Who is Sovereign and Who created us? After all, one of America’s founding documents declared that it was a “self-evident” truth that all people are created equal and they are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Endowed. Not given. This truth is what 56 men staked their reputation, their fortunes and their very lives on. So, where is the church today in upholding that same standard to preserve our rights and liberties?

Most Americans assume that the Constitution gives us our rights, but it actually does not, it merely safeguards them from the encroaching hands of a tyrannical government.

It is a slippery slope to assume that government, made of mere men (some of whom are weak and vain), can grant rights and liberties.

All rights descend from God, who made us, and made us like Him. He gave us the right to be free, to live and move and have our being, while abiding in relationship with Him. This perfect liberty is all that Adam forsook. And ever since then, mankind has struggled to retain his freedom while evil men try to conquer, claim, or usurp them. Alas, this is our storied struggle.

Oftentimes, government leaders and pompous potenates attempt to become like God. And much like the serpent promised Adam, in disobeying God, one could gain the power to determine for oneself that which is good and that which is evil.

This is a very dangerous game to play, this game against God.

The men and women who climb into their imagined thrones, often prey upon the weak and vulnerable. They attempt to destroy God’s laws, and to mare His image, in their frail attempt to usurp Him. They often begin to hate all that is good and to love what is evil.

If evil can be defined as good and good as evil, then the worst sins may unfold, shrouding cities in darkness and the stench of death, the palpable screams of those whose liberties and lives are being torn from them, limb from limb, much like the life of the unborn babes.

Chaos will always wreak havoc in city streets as it first does in the minds and hearts of those departed from God.

Ego has its price and sin has its consequences. The ultimate consequence of evil, most often in history, is paid in blood. And the blood shed is mainly that of innocent ones, the most vulnerable among us.

You see, if God’s laws and His Natural Order do not precede and undergird mans’ laws and way of life, then hell’s laws will triumph. Does hell have a law? Everything does. As John Rushdoony stated: “In any culture, the source of law is the god of that society. And hell’s is simple: “Do as thou wilt.”

Total disorder.

And those who typically follow it, who take the reins of power, wield that power for their own good — there is no selflessness, sacrifice or heroism. Just death and destruction: Mao Zedong, Xi Jinping, Margaret Sanger, Vladimir Lenin, Stalin, Ho Chi Minh, Hitler, and the list goes on to stain the pages of our story. Over and over again hell wins when God’s good laws and God Himself are removed, etched away from our hearts and lives and then from the public sphere of government, the arts and education, and yes, even from church and religion.

Thomas Jefferson said of liberty and law: “Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add within the limits of the law, because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.”

And when the tyrant’s will ensues in order to “violate the rights of the individual,” it’s up to good men to do something. The Puritan Motto proclaims that, “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.” This historic motto was originally intended to be America’s national motto. Franklin and Jefferson both planned ahead for this, penning the imagery of what they hoped to be engraved on the seal: the concept they drafted depicted Moses leading the Israelites out of bondage. What better for the national motto’s seal than the parting of the Red Sea? An historic moment in time where God’s hand of Providence is so clearly seen to save His people from the hand of a tyrant. God’s desire has always been to bring His people under rightful rulership of His good laws and into a land of promised freedom. Our founders viewed America to be that promised land.

Who will arise once more to stand against the tyrant kings of our time?

When Chaos ensues and tyranny reigns, it comes time for the age-old tale of the hero to emerge once more — the courageous knight who will slay the dragon: The George Washington, the William Wilberforce, and the Frederick Douglass and Mother Theresa — they all emerge to confront the darkness with the light of Truth and a valiant heart of Christ-likeness. They are purposed to redeem the times and set the captives free, no matter the cost unto themselves. The champions of our story, reflections of the One True Hero, Christ.

When the moral framework of the Church is dismantled within the home first and also public society, then that ancient enemy, the dragon, leaves his lair to haunt the schools and halls of government. It’s at this time that the the sound of freedom raises its cry, its battle cry, for the sons and daughters of liberty to step forward and defend liberty at all costs.

It’s time once more the church to rise and to raise a battle cry in defense of our God given rights and liberties and to meet the enemy on that ancient battlefield. Just as Moses lifted his rod to part the Red Sea, may we lift our voices and take action in faith, to declare and ensure our nation will be free once more. If we do not; if we succumb to cowardice and fear, or mere mediocrity in this moment, then we will all lose this modern American war for independence. After all, as one of our most beloved and faithful American heroes passionately proclaimed, “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?”

Written by Jenn Beard

If Life Was Like a Movie

If Life Was Like a Movie

 

It would be easy if life was like a movie…

Not because all movies have a happy ending but because the characters always have a clear goal. They have to, the writers have intended it to be that way. They have a goal and they have obstacles, and we as the viewers are supposed to be able to clearly see what those goals and obstacles are. We’re supposed to be able to engage. But this also means that  we can’t help but point out to the main characters when they do something wrong, “No you dummy, go right! Go right!” But alas, they go left, and they fall right – into – the trap.

⚠️ I’m going to use the James Bond film, Casino Royale, to explain my next point, if you haven’t seen Casino Royale, then this will spoil everything ⚠️

I’ll move quickly through the plot… 

In Casino Royale, James Bond is this really, super sexy, spy guy who gets every girl he wants. But he doesn’t need them, he just uses them for comfort or for the sake of his mission. Until this one mission where he starts to fall for this girl, Vesper, who works with him. At first, Vesper is aloof, she’s different. She’s special. She’s not like every other girl who was so easily charmed by him. But eventually she falls in love… or rather he falls in love with her and the two develop a kind of forbidden love connection. 

Only there’s one problem, she’s really a double agent and she betrays James, the entire department, and in many ways, herself.

Well, when James figured out she betrayed him, played his emotions like a fiddle and got away with it… what’s he thinking? He must be furious, right?

Well, actually, quite the opposite… he’s – Okay well at first he’s a little upset, I mean, give the guy a break, he’s only human after all. But then he starts chasing after her, and we see it, so plainly written on his face… He’s thinking… “I forgive you. Stop running! Don’t worry, I can fix this!” 

Because that’s just what love does… it forgives all wrongs. 

So, James Bond chases after her through the city of Venice. He beats up a bunch of throwaway villain characters to save her and this whole time… we’re just begging for him to deliver that line to her, to shout it out, “It’s okay! I love you! Don’t worry, come back, I can fix this.”

It all comes to a head in this elevator scene…

She locks herself in this cage-like-elevator at the top of a really tall building. And the building collapses. Her elevator plummets beneath the waters of Venice. 

So that’s it, right? She’s in a cage, under the water. She’s a goner. But James Bond, in true hero fashion, dives in after her, risking his own life to save her. And yet still, she is fighting him. We can see it in her eyes, fear. She is terrified that he will save her. 

We’re screaming, “Stop fighting him, you dummy! Can’t you see he loves you!” 

But, that’s just it. It’s not that she doesn’t know that. She’s not afraid that he’s angry, or that he won’t forgive her. It’s the opposite. She knows that he forgives her. And she doesn’t want to be saved. She doesn’t believe that she’s worth it. She doesn’t believe that anyone could ever love her so deeply, and that – even if someone does, she was never truly worth it.

In our own lives, we don’t have the omniscience we have when we’re watching a film. We can’t shout at ourselves to make the right decisions. Heck, we don’t even know what our goal is or what it should be. We don’t know what the obstacles are, or what life will throw at us.

But thankfully we do have an omniscient spectator. God is looking in, and unlike us, he can see it all and he can help. He wants to, so badly. He’s chasing after us, he’s screaming at the top of his lungs. “It’s okay! I love you! Don’t worry, come back, I can fix this.”

We still have time. We have a chance here…to change our lives, to stop running, turn around and let him save us. 

 

Written by Nick Beard

The Devil’s in the Details

The Devil’s in the Details

I don’t think that Satan shoes matter much.  

Why do we look at things like Satan shoes with such outrage, like its the cause of America’s moral bankruptcy? Are we really so naive? We see the fruit of culture and peg it as the problem, when we should look more closely at the root of culture, and find out where the problems originated.

The Evangelical world was in an uproar this year when the rapper Lil Nas created his own line of shoes. These shoes were specially dedicated to Satan. In true Satanic fashion, exactly 666 of them were made. I know, how cute. ?

When I first read the news report, I just shrugged and carried on, my morning coffee in hand. It’s not that I don’t care about the culture. I care astronomically about the direction our culture is heading, but these shoes are only a byproduct of the cultural dilemma, not the root of it.

We are so heavily steeped in anarchy, witchcraft, and sexual immorality, that I hardly see what the fuss is about when it comes to a pair of shoes. Look what our youth are engaged with: witchcraft, drug addiciton, idoltary, sexual immorality and the pervasive addiction to pornography. Instead of these being treated as deadly issues, they are either dismissed or glorified. They are celebrated as freedoms. Anarchy and sin is celebrated as the freedom to choose — a life said to be liberated from the religious power structures.

But, is this true? Does sin lead to increased freedom? 

I believe that the truth is that freedom only exists within the confines of morality, because without religion, we have no compass for morality in culture, other than what the human conscience shows us. 

Remember, true religion is simply this, “taking care of the widows and the orphans.” Meaning, living a life of selfless sacrifice and of service to those in need. This is good and needed.

Everything in our world today screams the opposite: it’s all about the me factor. We all become consumed within our own individual worlds where we devour whatever will satisfy us, whatever immediately gratifies our daily cravings. Billboards, magazine covers, movies and Instagram posts tell us: Do this. Say this. Wear this. Buy this. And if you do, you will be noticed, liked, empowered and perhaps, idolized. 

But, without a religious substructure to society, what is our foundation? What are the effects of a culture without religion? We can see the effects of the lack of a moral structure with the rise of divorce rates, the collapse of the family, and the sky rocketing cases of child pedophilia, sex trafficking, suicide and murder.

So, wouldn’t you agree that Satan Shoes are closer to the bottom of the scale of things that are “most serious” or harmful in our world today?

People only seem to notice the city is burning when the fire reaches their doorstep. But the truth is, America has been burning for decades! 

The school systems were overrun, or rather, dominated by progressive idealougues. Fathers abandoned their families, and mothers too, in pursuit of a “better life for themselves.” Again, these were byproducts of an age when our primary worship was of hedonism, an age of drugs, sex and rock n’ roll — all of which are more important to us than God, family, or religion. And we reaped the fruit of that.

As Nietchze professed, “God is dead.” And in a sense he was right! He did die. He died in the hearts and minds of people who turned calloused and confused hearts away from the Creator and towards the idols that American culture created for them.

Entertainment. Just one idol created at the threshold of modern America. Yet, this idol undermines the thoughts and souls of people in America. It’s taken a toll on the youth and transformed them in one generation’s time.

Entertainment today is mostly bad because it has become sinful. It has separated us from God. It has also separated us from each other from a higher calling or purpose in life. It has reduced goodness to relative meaning, corrupted truth, and defaced beauty. Entertainment, the child of Hollywood, created re-education camps called theaters, now accessible from our homes, and re-educated young and susceptible American minds on what is good. It more deeply ingrained the 70’s worldview of sexual liberation and  hippie loving freedom, which merely translated to the freedom to sin and to do as one desires without moral consequence. And they called that type of freedom good. Thus, the concept of goodness itself was undermined.

Entertainment would not merely separate us from God and re-educate us, but would also alienate us from others. Isolationism is a byproduct of an age of technology, an invention that is supposed to help us connect with one another. People today spend more time on their phones and watching television than they do in the world. So, the gap between people and human interaction ever widens.

Entertainment has also become one of the many new drugs. Entertainment, while wonderful in it’s supposed platform for artistic expression, is also a direct reflection of society’s worldview. And this worldview is bleak. 

Today, entertainment provides a global stage on which Lil’ Nas, the creator of the Satan shoes, can be seen in his recent music video, sliding down a stripper pole into hell and giving Satan a lap dance. This new stage of digital amusement, is the largest ever created in human history. It is large enough for the entire world to watch any given spectacle at any time, and it can can be viewed by anyone, any age, all over the world. This is both powerful and potentially dangerous, depending on what type of content is en mass, distributed.  

And speaking of any age, it seems parents are ignoring the warning signs. Where yesterday’s parents were blissfully ignorant of the effects of entertainment on their young ones, today’s parents seem not to care. And even sometimes, to encourage it.   

While some parents care about their child making A’s, what school they go to, and even what they are learning at their desks (which is not a bad thing), all the while the kids are being educated daily (and even nightly) in the schoolhouse of social media. 

However, if parents are loving and involved, most kids would happily put down their phones if their dad or mom genuinely cared to spend time with them. If the dad stopped drowning himself in beer and ESPN, and the mom from online shopping and Instagramming, perhaps, they would be able to see their child. Perhaps then that gap created by the toxic use and abuse of digital media and entertainment, but cease, and family’s could act as one unit, fathers investing in their children, and mother’s caring for their child. 

Please, parents learn to BE INVOLVED. It’s not complicated. Most kids run into the world of entertainment because yes, it’s addicting and feels good, but also because it’s a world they can escape into and away from the harsh realities of their own cold, isolated lives. So, they turn up the music and drown out the noise…or in many cases, the silence. 

Social media, music, film, and games affect everyone, but the most vulnerable among us are the youth. Subtle distortions of truth can be deadly. Hook a young person into an addictive world that literally changes cognitive ability and ideologically tampers with the way they view themselves, and perhaps introduces them to porn, then suddenly their lives have changed, and their future, as well as their minds and souls, have been reshaped and redirected.

As the creator of MTV once said himself, “The strongest appeal you can make is emotionally. If you can get their emotions going, make them forget their logic, you’ve got ‘em.” He adds, “At MTV we don’t shoot for the 14-year-olds, we own them.” ––Bob Pittman (Former President and Co-Founder of MTV), “MTV is Rock Around the Clock,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 3, 1982.

And just to be clear this isn’t just MTV, they are less and less popular of late, but it’s how most social media franchises and content creators view your children, as dollar signs… keep them invested in your product and you “own them.”

In the end, Satan Shoes mean very little to me and their effect is minor. They do however act more or less as a warning call to those who are half asleep. Times have been changing— and soon enough, we will wake up to an entirely new world, if we don’t act.

Written by Jenn Beard

Sex and Love

Sex and Love

Sex is Love.

Most would agree with that statement. Some would even draw inspiration from it. But, is it true? Is sex, love?

We’ve all seen it before on the big screen, or on our own screens back home: the young couple lost in each other’s eyes. The music begins and their passion for one another becomes a physical manifestation. That heightened state of passion becomes so intense that the clothes fall off their bodies. Everything about that moment, the camera, lighting, music…it tells us they have finally done it. This couple has finally achieved the greatest love that the world has to offer, passionate “love making.” The two ideals are merged right there in front of us. As integral to each other as yin and yang, yet much closer in likeness.

Who could deny it? Sex is love.

Through the power of cinematography and music we are convinced of the splendid, matromonic harmony of sex and love. Didn’t you hear the music? Didn’t you see them making such sweet, sweet love?

And, there is truth to it – certainly. Even in the Christian ideal, sex was created for the purpose of joining two people together in matrimonic harmony…to keep that couple’s bond unbroken and to bring life into the world. So even here, again, sex is love.

The idea that sex is not love is foreign to us, because of these hollywood moments, these moments we’ve witnessed time and time again. 

And yet, the implication that Sex is Love, is dangerous.

When it suits us, we don’t have a problem with the statement. The unification was made through Hollywood, through stories, it was made to look beautiful. It was made out to be the height of what it means to care for someone. Found in the coitus of two (or three) individuals was the ultimate depths of love.

But divorcing these two concepts is messy. It does not carry with it the same magical touch of the movies – and only through forceful and impactful imagery are we able to separate those two distinct entities, one from the other.

The images of a man molesting a child or a woman being raped by her boyfriend. In these two graphic, horrifying cases, the truth becomes so apparent – that it may be rejected outright. Sex is not love. Sex in these cases is the gratification of sexual appetite. Even Hollywood will aknowledge this and yet, in the same breath, they will tell us sex is love…still.

So the truth then. The truth is that sometimes, sex can be a representation of love, a true matrimonifc harmony, where both husband and wife are lost in each others arms.

But even in the case of a married man and woman, the love is in the relationship, it is characterized by the sacrificial nature of their relationship…how each of them serves the other. How each of them, each day, lives for the other.

Okay fine, then in this specific case of marriage, can we say that case sex is love? 

No, we cannot: Sex is one of the many ways that they (the married couple but also, other couples) express their love, for one another. But, their love would remain even if they were never able to have sex again. Therefore, the love is not dependent on the sex.

In all cases, sex is not synonmous with the word love. Not in English, nor in the more complex, foundational languages such as Greek. Where, instead of one word for it, we have many, many words for love. The word love, in the Greek, is broken down into categories, where a selfish, erotic love, is the very lowest form of human affection. At the height of true love, the love that measures all others, love is defined as sacrificial.

In one example of such love, we have Christ, a figure of true love, dying for those who did nothing to deserve it (Romans 5:8).

And still, to this day, we have that same opportunity — to love others through charity. To love with this love is to sacrifice our own wants and needs for the needs and wants of others. This is true love. It does not look like a golden sunrise, music does not play the moment we give our parking spot to another. But just like the stories, this charitable form of love, this sacrificial love, is the love that will set us free from all hurt, pain, and condemnation.

Written by Nick Beard

What’s Wrong with Christianity Today — Part I

What’s Wrong with Christianity Today — Part I

Ever wonder why young people are leaving the church today in mass numbers? Why do so many churches think that bright lights and pop-rock concerts will fix it? Churches are failing. It’s clear that many are failing because they are trying too hard to win back young members. Others are failing because there is no passion, no zeal. It’s just a bunch of dry bones preaching from the pulpit. It sounds harsh, but it’s reality and it needs to be addressed. Young people are leaving Christianity in droves because the real, authentic Christianity is not what’s being given to them. They associate real Christianity to the skewed version of it they discover in modern church services; and therefore, many reject traditional Christianity as a whole without ever having known it.  In today’s modern world, it seems that Christian leaders are attempting new ways to make Christianity cool. But, why in the world would anyone need to do that? Is the gospel itself not enough? The lights, loud music, nifty haircuts and outfits, entertaining speakers, and all the glitz that’s added to it cannot compete with the authentic Gospel shared with an authentic heart. It seems that church leaders add the extra bling to church productions to generate more attendance.  They are in competition with other speakers and churches to gain more popularity so that they can increase members and ratings. It’s about the numbers after all. I assure you that Christ never ministered to the multitudes while using a fog machine. With all the attention on entertainment, it’s no wonder that church has become so trivial. My English professor recapped a chapel worship session that went horribly wrong. The lyrics to the song should have said, “Fill me up Jesus,” but instead said, “Feel me up, Jesus.” The worship team sang the chorus over and over again without any thought. The church world has been saturated by what makes them feel good and there’s not much thought about it — the sounds, the cinema spectacle and in-house coffee shops. What has the church become? And don’t get me started with the prosperity gospel– the idea that what God wants most for you is to be comfortable and extremely wealthy. Thus, all you have to do is believe and tithe to your local church. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing unethical with using lights, staging, comedic story-telling for preaching, etc., but we should question why these things are being used. It’s a matter of the heart. It reminds me of this verse I ran across today: “He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him, is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him” (John 7:18). One of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer, wrote this brazenly honest comment: “I trust I speak in charity, but the lack in our pulpits is real. Milton’s terrible sentence applies to our day as accurately as it did to his: ‘The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed.’ It is a solemn thing, and no small scandal in the Kingdom, to see God’s children starving while actually seated at the Father’s table” (The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer). We need this type of honesty that leaders like Tozer provided. People are hungry for what’s real and meaningful. It’s often hard to find because it’s covered with so much extra. This type of sugar-coated truth becomes nearly unrecognizable and hard to stomach after you swallow.  I tend to agree with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn who said, “Everything you add to the truth subtracts from the truth.”  We are lost in a world of mass media with its quick, bite sized information and constant entertainment. We have almost everything ‘we need,’ except for what we need most. Everyone of us, especially young people, desperately need genuine love. Many have suffered abuse and major hurt by their own family. They have also been deeply wounded by those who call themselves Christian. People are tired of the fake. They are hungry for what’s real. Yet, often times, the churches are not providing it. Oddly enough, packed mega churches feel very empty. They have everything a church is expected to have today: the music, digital presentations, entertaining events, and well-coordinated Bible study groups. Yet, it seems that no one cares to know or invest in the individual person. They have greeters at their doors who smile and welcome you, but you most likely don’t know a single one of them personally. Once you enter through the main doors, you are surrounded by people, but often feel alone. Hundreds of seats are bathed in multi-colored stage lights as music reverberates through the auditorium and jolts your body. Worship services evolved over the years. They now feel more like a rock concert than reverential praise for God. In fact, in some services you can even win a t’shirt plastered with a nifty church logo or a free Starbucks gift-card! A friend of mine was a part of a worship team in a church like this. She told me that before they performed for a Sunday service, the leader yelled, “Time to rock their faces off!” My friend’s expression turned to shock. She immediately responded, “Excuse me? Rock their faces off? I thought this was a church service, not a rock concert.” Not long after this experience, my friend left the church. Her story is like many others that I hear. It’s interesting that research from Barna Group and others show that 67% of millennials prefer a “classic” church over a “trendy” one, and 77% would choose a “sanctuary” over an “auditorium.” Thankfully, I see authentic leaders rising up, hearts as well as churches being transformed, real churches that reflect traditional Christianity. They are built upon core Christian principles. They impart unsaturated, Christian ideals. They are places of love and acceptance, because Christianity welcomes all people from all walks of life, “For even as we were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This is not a call for reformation, this is a call for revitalization. We need to accept the foundation of traditional Christianity, and allow for the love of God to present itself in the manner it was intended. I must add, however, that the church is not the sole answer. It grieves me to see church platforms being used to gain popularity. However, I never measure Christianity by these things, but only by Christ. Many today walk through the doors of a church to seek not merely answers to burning life questions, but community. So, I challenge Christians today (myself included), to reach out to people, to love authentically, and to care. Because anything less than this is selfish and anything less than this is not Christ-like. Pastors should stop asking themselves, “What do people like to hear,” and instead should ask themselves, “What do people need to hear?” They must be able to communicate hard truths — biblical truths. This may prove a difficult task, which may at first dwindle the size of churches. But in the end, it will provide a home to all those who are seeking truth and healing. Alternatively, if the modern church continues to pander to this generation, simply to grow their congregations, then it will be a ‘church’ of instantaneous gratification and mediocrity. Everything pales in comparison to the fullness of the Love of God. How can pastors and churches continue to deny this to a spiritually deprived world? Churches must be firmly planted upon the traditional principles laid down by Christ, so that they can be a home to all those who are searching for truth, healing and genuine love. Written by Jenn Beard