Gregory Koukl's Blog, page 30

Links Mentioned on the 12/16/15 Show

The following is a rundown of today's podcast, annotated with links that were either mentioned on the show or inspired by it:

Commentary: Microaggression and the Gospel (0:00)

Donate to Stand to Reason
LGBT Rights vs. Religious Freedom Looms Large at #AtlanticLGBT Summit by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
The "Suicide" Tactic by Brett Kunkle
This Is Not a Day Care. It's a University! by Everett Piper

Questions:

��� Announcements:

STR Cruise to Alaska ��� August 6-13, 2016

1. How do you handle slow spiritual times? (0:45)

No Pixie Dust: Truths of Spiritual Growths (CD or MP3) by Greg Koukl
Newton on the Christian Life: To Live Is Christ by Tony Reinke

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To take part in the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00���6:00 p.m. PT), follow @STRtweets and use the hashtag #STRtalk.

Challenge: Jesus Was an Accessory to Massacres

Challenges against God���s goodness are popular and take many different forms. Here���s one from ���40 Problems with Christianity���:

The case can be made that God killed or authorized the killings of up to 25,000,000 people. This is the God that Jesus looked up to and of whom he was allegedly an integral part. That is to say: Jesus himself was an accessory to these massacres. Therefore, Christianity cannot extract itself from these atrocities; it must own them and admit that their God is in fact a serial, genocidal, infanticidal, filicidal, and pestilential murderer.

Does the history of the Old Testament include genocidal, infanticidal, filicidal, and pestilential murders committed by God? How would you respond to this challenge? Leave your comments below, and then be back here on Thursday to hear Brett���s response.

[Explore past challenges here and here.]

Is Man Born Sinful?

Brett discusses whether or not humans are born sinful.

Imprint of King Hezekiah���s Seal Found in Jerusalem

This is exciting:

The royal seal of an ancient biblical king has been unearthed near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The seal, a clay impression depicting a two-winged sun with two ankh symbols on either side, was once used to seal papyrus documents associated with King Hezekiah, who ruled the kingdom of Judea from 727 B.C. to 698 B.C. The seal was unearthed in a trash heap near the walls of the ancient Temple Mount���.

King Hezekiah is one of the most famous of the Israelite kings. During his reign, he rooted out idol worship, spruced up the decrepit temple and centralized power, as told in biblical accounts.

His reign is also one of the best documented by nonbiblical sources. The chronicles of the Assyrian kings Sargon II and Sennacherib, who laid siege to Jerusalem under Hezekiah's watch, describe the Israelite ruler paying tribute to them to fend off attacks. The Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem but did not vanquish the Judean kingdom in Hezekiah's lifetime, according to the Assyrian chronicles.

The team found the seal while sifting through archaeological remains from a trash heap found outside what was once the Royal Building, essentially the food pantry for the ancient kingdom.

When the researchers took a closer look, they realized the item was a seal with the following inscription: ���Belonging to Hezekiah, [son of] Ahaz, king of Judah.���

Read the rest of the article. One aspect of Christianity (and the Judaism it began with) that makes it unique among religions is its connection to history. Christianity is not a collection of wise sayings received by a guru; it���s the story of history���of reality. I love hearing periodic reminders of this from the work of archaeologists.

Links Mentioned on the 12/11/15 Show

The following is a rundown of today's podcast, annotated with links that were either mentioned on the show or inspired by it:

Commentary: Ideas to Make Christmas Meaningful (0:00)

Greg's Wednesday commentary on Christmas
Celebrating Advent and Book Recommendations by Greg Koukl
Grace Community Church Christmas production
The Star of Bethlehem (DVD)
The Nativity Story (Film trailer)

Questions:

1. Wedding videographer approached by gay couple. What's the response? (0:16)

Three Steps to Protect Christian Wedding Vendors by Greg Koukl
Alliance Defending Freedom

2. Church changed ���membership��� to ���ministry partner��� in bylaws. Thoughts? (0:25)

3. What is the ethical obligation when a spouse doesn't know adultery is occurring? (0:34)

4. What is your writing process? (0:45)

5. How do you know who to marry? (0:)

Finding the Love of Your Life by Neil Clark Warren

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To take part in the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00���6:00 p.m. PT), follow @STRtweets and use the hashtag #STRtalk.

2016 AMP Conference in February

Reasons to Believe���s AMP Conference is coming up on February 12-13 in Pomona, CA. (Use the code ���STANDTOREASON��� to get 10% off.) J. Warner Wallace and Sean McDowell are two of the many speakers who will be teaching���see a full list of speakers and topics here. From the AMP Conference website:

AMP (apologetics, mission, and partnership) is an annual two-day conference that aims to amplify Christians��� voices in the cultural conversation. Too often our voices remain silent, stifled by uncertainty and doubt. AMP exists to equip Christians for confident advance of the Gospel amid a skeptical world. 

To achieve this vision, AMP partners with churches, ministries, and leading Christian apologists to cultivate an awareness of key issues that arise in discussions of our faith and to prepare ourselves for effective response.

Topics include ���Reaching People on the Secular Landscape��� (Mark Mittelberg), ���Islam���s Grand Central Question���And How to Answer It��� (Abdu Murray), and ���Encountering the Problem of Evil in Everyday Conversations��� (Mary Jo Sharp).

Register here, and don���t forget to use our promo code for 10% off. I hope to see you there!

Links Mentioned on the 12/09/15 Show

The following is a rundown of today's podcast, annotated with links that were either mentioned on the show or inspired by it:

Commentary: Preparing for Christmas (0:00)

Williams-Sonoma Handcrafted Toffee
Celebrating Advent and Book Recommendations by Greg Koukl
Christmas Card Captions

Questions:

1. Suggest some habits for studying philosophy at a graduate level. (0:18)

Thinking about God: First Steps in Philosophy by Greg Ganssle
Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult by Garrett DeWeese

2. Is it ethical to experiment on clones or stem cells? (0:31)

3. What is the Christian stance on accepting refugees? (0:42)

STR Cruise to Alaska ��� August 6-13, 2016

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To take part in the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00���6:00 p.m. PT), follow @STRtweets and use the hashtag #STRtalk.

The Immune Response against Abortion

When a pregnant woman says ���My body, my choice,��� her own body disagrees. The proof doesn���t come from a pro-life person���s persuasive arguments. It comes from the ���testimony��� of her body���s physiology.

During pregnancy, the mother���s circulatory system and the unborn���s circulatory system come very close together in the placenta, but they don���t mix. This allows oxygen and nutrients to pass to the unborn while simultaneously allowing carbon dioxide and waste products to return to the mother.

In some abnormal conditions, the unborn���s blood enters into the mother���s bloodstream. If this happens, it evokes an immune response by the mother. Her body creates antibodies that attack the unborn inside her. That���s because the mother���s body recognizes the unborn���s body as a foreign body, not merely an extension of her own body.

The mother���s immune system doesn���t create antibodies against her appendix, her tonsils, or her teeth because these are part of her body. She can correctly state, ���My body, my choice,��� regarding those parts and ��� without committing a moral crime ��� procure an appendectomy, tonsillectomy, or tooth extraction.

Procuring an abortion, however, doesn���t remove a part of her own body, but rather, a different body. That���s the unbiased testimony of a pregnant woman���s own physiology.

 

Related post: My Body, My Choice?

The Morality of Medical Treatment While Pregnant

Is it moral for a pregnant woman to receive medical treatment such as chemotherapy, knowing it may endanger the life of her unborn baby?

It���s Not Wrong to Long for Justice

Over the past year, I���ve listened to my best friend tell me about her little church���how attentive, kind, and caring the elders are, how close the people are, how they preach the Gospel, speak the truth, and worship God. I even got to see it for myself just a few weeks ago.

This was the church of Garrett Swasey, the police officer and church elder who was killed in Colorado Springs last week, and it has been surreal, to say the least, to see this elder and his congregation suddenly propelled into the limelight���to hear everyone I regularly read and listen to speak about this man and even link to his sermons. I���m thankful that the ordinary Christians in this solid little church were ready and able to glorify God by responding with the Gospel in the face of evil. I���m awed by the way Garrett has preached the Gospel even in his death, to an untold number of people���both by dying for others and through his last sermon, which has been downloaded thousands and thousands of times over the last week. None of us ever knows when and how God will use us, and I stand in awe of what He has done through this church in the last week. I know Garrett would echo Paul���s rejoicing that ���Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.���

Many have written excellent responses to the accusations made against pro-lifers as a result of last week���s murders (see Ross Douthat, Tim Brahm, and Scott Klusendorf���see also what I���ve written previously in condemnation of violence against abortion clinics), so I direct you to them for those discussions.

I want to say something about justice.

We have seen much evil over the past week, and it���s not wrong to long for justice. After hearing about Garrett���s funeral last night, my Bible reading happened to be in Psalm 9, and its praise of God���s judgment of the wicked and rescue of the afflicted was what I needed to hear:

I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart;
I will tell of all Your wonder.
I will be glad and exult in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and perish before You.
For You have maintained my just cause;
You have sat on the throne judging righteously.
You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked;
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very memory of them has perished.

But the Lord abides forever;
He has established His throne for judgment,
And He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the people with equity.
The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
And those who know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;
Declare among the peoples His deeds.
For He who requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
Be gracious to me, O Lord;
See my affliction from those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
That I may tell of all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may rejoice in Your salvation.
The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
The Lord has made Himself known;
He has executed judgment.
In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared���.

The wicked will return to Sheol,
Even all the nations who forget God.
For the needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.
Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged before You.
Put them in fear, O Lord;
Let the nations know that they are but men.

We human beings are odd. We both desire just judgment and intensely hate it. This is why you���ll hear people rail against God for not bringing about justice, while in the next breath they call God unjust for judging people in Hell.

Justice is terrible and good. We all know this. We love justice because we long to uphold the good. Yet we know perfect justice perfectly upholds the good, and so we fear it. It���s terrible (that is, formidable and awesome in its greatness) in the sense that true justice absolutely and unforgivingly deals out what is deserved.

You can���t understand the Gospel if you don���t love justice.

Our love of justice is a reflection of our love for the perfections of God���s character. He is righteous. He is loving. He is good. In the deepest part of us, we know that everyone who rips away at God���s reflection on earth rightfully deserves condemnation, and we desire the fulfillment of that condemnation. It���s when we recognize that this applies even to our own sins that we become desperate for grace.

[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness���so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Because of my love of justice and need for grace, those are my favorite words in the Bible. The amazing truth we know as Christians is that God is both just and the justifier. God will not cheat His justice. We need not worry that any evil will ultimately go unpunished, but neither need we fear the fact that no evil will go unpunished. For all of us who come to Jesus, desperate for grace, He has achieved perfect justice by bearing our sins. Those who do not come to Jesus for grace will bear their own sins. The justice we long for will be complete.

We ���never take our own revenge, but leave room for the wrath of God��� not because justice is wrong, but because we can trust justice in God���s hands. On earth, government is the authority established by God to act ���as a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil,��� and the cross is our guarantee of both justice and grace, now and in the future.* For this reason, says Romans 12, when our enemy is hungry, we can feed him, and if he is thirsty, we can give him a drink. We rest in God���s righteous statement, ���Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,��� and in doing so, we are free to show mercy and pray for the repentance of others without denying our love for God and our desire to see goodness vindicated.

___________________________

*This includes the guarantee of justice through judgment in Hell for those who are not united to Christ; for if the wrath of God endured by Jesus on the cross was necessary to fulfill justice on behalf of those united to Him, then those who are not united to Him will be required to endure that same wrath of God. Since we, unlike Jesus, are limited beings, that will require Hell.