Some guy named Michael Gungor–a “Christian singer,” I’m told: another one of these great celebrities I never heard of–recently, and in public, proposed that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, when He was talking about the Old Testament in general and Adam and Noah in particular, either didn’t know the facts of history, or else knowingly spoke of untrue things as if they were true, deceiving His listeners ( http://godfatherpolitics.com/16938/award-winning-christian-singer-suggests-jesus-wrong-lied-creation-adam-noah/ ).
Jesus Christ, said the celebrity, only “knew” what everybody else in First-Century Judea knew. Either that, or He told the poor ignorant people what they expected to hear: in other words, Christ lied. So much for “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (John 18:37).
Nowadays, says the celebrity, everybody knows there never was such a person as Adam, and there never was a Noah or a Flood. We know better than to believe in those ancient Bible stories.
See? It’s not only libs ‘n’ progs who can’t get the hang of basic Christianity. There are a lot of Christians who are Biblically challenged, too.
But what it really is, they don’t want the lost souls of this world, the wise, the academics, the power-brokers and the whoopee crowd, to think they’re just dumb Christian hicks. They treasure the esteem of this fallen world.
They have their reward.
Jesus asked, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)
It depends on where you look, Lord; it depends on where you look.
Quiet a lot of assumptions on his part. Why even call yourself a Christian if your not going to believe it? It’s either all or nothing, anything else is just a waste of time.
You should see some of the blather coming out of the Episcopal Church in my town. They could give Gungor and John Kerry a run for their money.
When people pick and choose what they accept from the Bible, they are not studying God’s word, but are actually studying their own opinions and then using verse checking to make those opinions seem scriptural.
I don’t claim to fully understand the scriptures, but I see internal harmony throughout. There always seem to have been some faithful individuals willing to do God’s will and surrounded by a world of godlessness. Somehow, God’s purposes always seem to prevail, although the odds usually seem stacked against this happening.
While the creation account and the Flood may seem simplistic to some people, the science used to claim this never happened is speculative, at best. There are some excellent videos from the Discovery Institute that deal with the intricacy of the cell along with the staggering odds against such chemistry occuring spontaneously. Dr. Gerald Schroeder, a former physics professor from MIT, has written some very interesting information about the creative days mentioned in the Bible. Believing in creation does not restrict you to the company of the uneducated. Some pretty heavy hitters in the world of science turn out to be believers in creation.
Ultimately, our understanding is bound to have limitations. We have only the perspective as seen from earth and our relatively short lifespan doesn’t help at all. The best minds on earth are no match for God’s genius.
Hey brother, if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of Christian are you?
Now I don’t mean that to sound abrupt, I just want to know, y’know, denomination, position on the fundamentals, however you would describe your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you will.
God be blessing you.
I think my position is evident from the totality of my writings on this blog. But if you like, take me as a “mere Christian” who believes in the inerrant word of God as given to us in the Bible. I was brought up Dutch Reformed but am not currently affiliated with any particular denomination.
Jesus Christ is my master, my king, my savior, and my God.
There’s a man who doesn’t know what he believes. He says that he doesn’t understand how it would deny the divinity of Christ, but how could it not? It’s either claiming Christ was a liar or ignorant. It says more about him that anything else.
The most obvious thing this “Christian’ entertainer is missing – It is impossible for God to lie. Jesus Christ is God. He cannot lie. The Bible, His Word – the same Word who spoke everything into existence – is True. Down to the last jot and tittle.
Some of the musicians professing to be Christian artists strike me as being quite similar to contemporary secular music artists. It’s not my place to judge any individual, but some of this music doesn’t sound at all different from what I hear from contemporary secular sources.
I play music, but I don’t play worship or praise music, it’s strictly secular. Nonetheless, I am very careful about the music I play. I avoid songs which I feel are unchristian in lyric, or which reflect a negative spirit. I avoid music which deals in negative imagery. I play some Rock & Roll, although I tend to stick to the sounds of the early ’60s, in great part because the music which began appearing in the latter ’60s seemed at the time, and to this day, to reflect a negative spirit which I don’t want to express.
So here I am, playing music which is 50 years old, or older, and I enjoy it. There is newer music which I like, but it seems that much of the music in the last 50 years deals in immorality and a negative view of life. What I find interesting is that there are many people that seem to enjoy the same music. I played at a benefit concert recently and when we were playing Surf Music and the like, the audience seemed to love it.
When I hear music purporting to be for praise and worship, but emulating the sounds of modern, negativistic music, I find it perplexing. Worship of the One True God and the redemption of the Christ are the antidotes to negativity, why should praise music sound like it’s being sung by some disinterested voice devoid of emotion? I didn’t like that kind of music when it was presented as secular music and I don’t like it any better as praise music.
My preferences in music sound similar to yours, Unknowable. Even secular music from back in the day was done with emotion. Today, and maybe since the days of ‘acid rock’, much of it sounds downright demonic to me and repulses me immediately. In fact, I don’t consider it music. I’m afraid I haven’t kept track of the years fitting each genre, but I do know there was a shift from decent sounding music to what sounds like it’s coming straight from the pit of hell.
Don’t look at me: I posted “Delaware” by Perry Como.
I’ve studied music since childhood and have endeavored to understand it as best I can. I remember that in the late ’60s distorted guitars became preponderant and the entire feeling changed. There were examples of overdriven guitars before then, but not nearly as common as they became in the late ’60s.
I didn’t like that music then and I don’t like it now. I actually bought Jimi Hendrix albums just to try and see the appeal, but for me it’s just not there. Such music abandons beauty in exchange for the expression of rage. I know how to play such music, but I have no desire to do so.
One thing I find interesting, in my case, is that the lines have remained in the same place consistently over the years. When I was 12 years old, and the “acid rock” thing started emerging, I avoided it and I still do. To me it’s like an unpleasant odor which I find repellent.
Conversely, there is a lot of active, exciting, energizing music one can play that does not involve the heavy sounds of the late ’60s. My father was as old school as anyone when it came to music, but he loved the Ventures records my sister had in her collection. I perform some of their material to this day.
Are you thinking of anyone in particular? There are a lot of famous people I never heard of, out there.
Not me. I like Perry Como 🙂 I’ve never heard of many of them either, Lee, and I prefer it that way.
With regard to the world of commercial “Christian music” I have no specific examples. I’ve heard some of these songs over the years, but I don’t follow the genre and am not familiar with specific artists. I’m certain that there are many sincere, good-hearted people in that musical field, but I’ve also heard some stuff that didn’t impress me a bit.
Now it sounds like “Christian fiction” which consists of tacking on a “religious” scene or two and otherwise doing nothing in particular.
Yep. Some of these “praise” songs are just Rock with Jesus’ name tossed in here and there. 🙂
I think “Christian rap” is, well, the nadir.
I can’t stand Rap of any sort with the strange exception of the very first song to feature Rap and the Hip Hop beat, Blondie’s Rapture.