The ungodly growth of Holocaust Denial

The Holocaust which occurred during World War II is the most attested event in the history of mankind.  It is more readily demonstrated than the Moon Landing and the tragedy of 9/11, two of history's other most documented events.  It can be proven to be a FACT by countless documents, photographs, videos, eye witness testimonies, forensic evidence, and of course the grisly structures left behind, including the 110 Concentration Camps (most of which would go on to become Death Camps whose sole purpose was the elimination of undesirable human beings). 

The primary advocates and executioners of Hitler's Final Solution were German Nazis who were assisted by millions of average German civilians, but they also had easily proven assistance from collaborators in every country occupied by the Reich during its short reign of terror.  There were French collaborators, Dutch, Belgian, Czech, Austrian, Bulgarian, Italian, Norwegian, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, and yes Polish collaborators too.  This is not an insult to the pride of those nations, just a simple fact, had the United States been under the Nazi jackboot, there would have been plenty of willing Americans helping the Nazi murder American Jews.  There were resistance fighters, brave men and women who stood up against the Nazi war machine in each of those countries, many of whom were ruthlessly hunted down and killed by the Gestapo, but we are lying to ourselves and rewriting history to deny that there were also people throughout Europe, of every nationality, ethnicity, and religious group, who were willing to help the Nazis exterminate the Jews.

Why is this already proven FACT of history relevant today?  The government of Poland has just made it illegal, punishable by up to three years in jail, to state that Poland was anything other than a victim of the Germans by noting the sad fact that some Poles were happy to help the Germans kill their Jewish neighbors.  (Poland's Holocaust Innocence Law)  The world will be shocked by this obvious xenophobic appeal to nationalism by a government that is turning its back on its hard won democracy and embracing authoritarianism, but that shock will wane over time, and the rising tide of Holocaust Denial, particularly in Europe, will continue.

Time will tell if the truth and facts will win out over self-serving lies in the modern world.  The internet has made it possible to verify virtually any fact, but also possible to deny any fact that one doesn't like the implications of. 

What impact does this have upon the Church?  We ought to be able to see the danger.  The Church proclaims the Gospel, a message built upon historical facts, relying upon belief in absolute Truth, and antithetical to the notion that as human beings we have the right to create our own truth/facts.  A world in which the Holocaust is denied is a world hostile to the Gospel, for that reason alone the Church must oppose Holocaust Denial.  Beyond self-interest, however, lies a moral obligation to defend the Truth, to speak on behalf of those murdered by hate, and to continue to accurately and fully proclaim the evil in the heart of man that enabled this darkest moment in human history, lest it arise once more to murder again in the name of Antisemitism.

Sermon Video: Remain where you are? 1 Corinthians 7:17-24

As a Christian, should you stay where and what you are, assuming it is God's will, or should you seek to change the life you're living to go along with the spiritual change God is working out in each of us?  While acknowledging that every situation is unique, in general Christians are called to be useful to the kingdom of God, where they are now, regardless if change is coming in the future.  God called us to salvation, where and what we were, no matter our background or abilities, teaching us that God saw value in us then, ensuring that we can be useful to God's kingdom right away.  How do I know this?  It took me twelve years to get to the place that I thought God's will was leading me when I graduated from Cornerstone University, through numerous setbacks and much heartache (for my wife Nicole as well), but God had a use for me, even then, teaching alternative education and then after a long wait, being the pastor of the small rural church, the First Baptist of Palo.  In the end, God brought us to Franklin, PA, not at all what I had expected, but clearly the right place for us.

What is God's exact will for your life?  Don't ask me, other than the answer that is the same for us all, making you Christ-like, I don't know.  But I do know this, God wants you to be useful to his kingdom, to serve, here and now.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Divorce a non-Christian spouse? 1 Corinthians 7:12-16

As Paul continues to answer questions from the church in Corinth regarding sex and marriage, a new wrinkle in the long-established teaching from the Scriptures about divorce is addressed: Should a believer divorce his/her non-Christian spouse?  This is not a question answered by Jesus in the Gospels where he taught against divorce with a very limited exception, but now that the Gospel has gone out beyond the Jewish community to include many formerly pagan gentiles, there are a number of new believers whose spouse has not accepted the Gospel.  In his next letter to Corinth, Paul will warn against entering into are marriage with an unbeliever lest you be "unequally yoked", but what should a Christian do about an already existing marriage?

The answer from Paul is unequivocal, if possible, the marriage should be preserved.  If the faith of the one who has become a Christian, whether it be husband or wife, is to be the cause of a split/divorce, it should not come from the Christian him/herself.  It may be that the non-believers wants to leave, that their rejection of God's work in their spouse is forceful enough to split the marriage, but that is the choice of the non-believers.  The Christian should stay, if possible, but why?  Paul outlines two important potential benefits of staying: the godly influence upon both the non-believing spouse, and the godly influence upon the children.  For the sake of the soul of the non-believing spouse, and for the sake of the religious upbringing of the children, remaining in the marriage is to be the default for Christians.  The hope, in the end, is that both spouse and children will also come to know the grace of God that is in Christ Jesus.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Why our favoritism (politics) is an affront to God - Romans 2:11, Colossians 3:25

It has become all too apparent that much of the Church in America (in particular) has become infected with the disease of favoritism.  One group of people (who are like us) are viewed with a positive lens, excusing any misdeeds and assuming pure motives, while another group (who are not like us) is viewed with a negative lens, shouting about any misdeeds and assuming nefarious motives.  The primary breakdown for this divide is politics, with a secondary, and often related, divide regarding race/nationality.  Those who call themselves Christians who put an (R) after their name, view all those with a (D) through a negative lens and their fellows (R's) through a positive lens, and vice versa.  When "our guy" is the politician, entertainer, business leader, etc. in question, all can be forgiven, when it is "their guy" the spirit of forgiveness is replaced with the iron fist of justice.  Are we really under the impression that this sort of self-serving tribalism is what God intended for His Church?  Can we not see that our willingness to weight the scales when they benefit us personally/politically is warping our presentation of the Gospel and turning people away from Christ??  Whose kingdom have we been called to serve, our own or God's?

God doesn't operate this way, as Paul wrote in Romans 2:11, "For God does not show favoritism", and in Colossians 3:25, "Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism."  If a person sins, they will answer for that sin to God, whoever they are.  If a person sincerely seeks the face of God in repentance, putting faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that person will find forgiveness and new birth, whoever they are.  When we all stand before God at the day of judgment, our politics and our race will matter not at all.  There will be formerly homeless drug addicts who found God's grace in Christ who are welcomed into the kingdom of heaven, and there will be rich, powerful, and famous men (and women) who spoke the name of Christ as a talisman while claiming to be "one of us", who will be left outside the kingdom having heard Jesus say to them, "I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matthew 7:23)

Each step the Church takes, through individual Christians, through those spokespeople in leadership roles, or through denominations themselves, toward favoritism is a step away from the Gospel.  It doesn't matter if that favoritism is based upon class, race, gender, nationality, or politics.  Each time we judge our fellow man (favorably or harshly) based upon anything except the Gospel's call for salvation by grace through faith, we put ourselves in the place of God, and insult the one who will judge all mankind by claiming to know better than him.  This sickness is a cancer to the Church.  If left unchecked, it will spread until the Gospel is subsumed beneath our us vs. them tribalism, leaving us incapable of speaking the Truth to a world in need.  If you are a Christian, through what lens are you viewing the your fellow man, your country, and the world?  Do you see in shades of Red or Blue, or do you see as Jesus saw, lost sheep in need of a shepherd, lost sinners in need of God's grace?

Undoubtedly, some will react to these words with disdain even anger, claiming that their favoritism is justified because the ends justify the means, for the disease has spread and taken hold in the hearts of many, but some will have an ear and they will hear.  The Church has only one Lord, and he does not show favoritism.  Sin is sin, righteousness is righteousness, regardless of what you think about the person/people committing it.

Sermon Video: Celibacy or Marriage? - 1 Corinthians 7:8-11

Is a life of celibacy make one closer to God than a life which includes marital sex?  Is Celibacy a spiritually superior choice?  The Apostle Paul had the opportunity to make that claim in his first letter to the church at Corinth when he addressed the topics of celibacy and marriage, but Paul did not make any such claim.  Why not?  Because as a Jew and a Christian, Paul understood that God's creation was "good" prior to the Fall, that there is no moral distinction between the physical and the spiritual.  This Judeo-Christian worldview contrasts with the Platonic dualism of Greek philosophy which envisioned the physical realm as the source of evil and the spiritual as the source of good.  As such, that dualism led toward viewing asceticism (self-denial) as a potential solution, thus supposedly elevating the spiritual by denying the physical.  This viewpoint was absorbed with the rest of Greek philosophy by the Church, resulting in a new non-biblical, and even anti-biblical viewpoint regarding virginity, sex, and marriage which eventually led to the monastic movement and many centuries later, to priestly celibacy. 
In the end, the embracing of celibacy as holier than marital sex by portions of the Church has led to a variety of non-biblical attitudes, including the association of "dirty" with sex, and the view that marital sex ought not be a pleasurable aspect of the "one flesh" union of marriage, but rather simply a means to procreation, a sort of necessary evil.  The Church has much to be thankful for to Greek philosophy, the inclusion of spiritual/physical dualism is not one of them.  God created humanity as male and female with a sexual capacity and desire, God created marriage, both of which must be inherently good, not evil.  Is celibacy superior to marriage?  Not at all.

To watch the video, click on the link below: