Weekly Articles

Have you ever wondered about the original meaning behind the symbols we see everyday?  For example, the twisted-loop shape of a pretzel comes from an intent to symbolize arms crossed in prayer for children.  Although they are no longer exclusively given as a reward for having learned prayers, the shape remains.  There are many such symbols around us; two that I want to focus on are linked to the medical profession.

If asked what the symbol for the medical profession is, most Americans would respond with the answer of “the caduceus” (the winged rod entwined by two snakes); this answer is both right and wrong.  The correct symbol for the medical profession is the rod of Asclepius, which is a stick with one snake wrapped around it.  This symbolizes the medical profession because:  it represents the religion Hippocrates belonged to; it is reminiscent of the Bronze snake lifted on a pole in the desert by the Israelites (see Numbers 21); and it brings to mind the Apostle Paul surviving the bite of a viper on the island of Malta (after which he healed all the sick of the island).  This is the symbol used on the EMS star of life logo - a blue “heavy asterisk” (*) with the rod and snake in white at its heart.

The popular caduceus has come to be associated in America with the medical profession because it was adopted by the US Army Medical Corps.  It is the symbol of Hermes (Roman: Mercury) and is thus associated with thievery, dishonesty, and death.  While this may be appropriate in light of the current debates about healthcare (such as abortion), what is interesting to me is that this symbol, too, has links to the Apostle Paul.

In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.  He listened to Paul as he was speaking.  Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!”  At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.  When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”  Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.  The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.  But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:  “Men, why are you doing this?  We too are only men, human like you.  We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.  In the past, he let all nations go their own way.  Yet he has not left himself without testimony:  He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”  Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.  (Acts 14:8-18 NIV)

With all that is going wrong with the medical profession in America today, it would be wise to look at the symbols we use.  The caduceus is a symbol of dishonesty and death, but it was briefly assigned to Paul because he healed through the power of God.  Over the past several decades the medical profession has been linked to the killing of babies (abortion), the killing of the elderly (euthanasia), and the killing of the depressed and infirmed (assisted suicide).  But when linked to God through Christian faith, the medical profession can return to its proper role of treating the sick and preventing illness, to mending the broken and repairing the damaged.

When you see an ambulance, the blue cross of life (the rod of Asclepius) is like the Bronze snake in the wilderness – look to it to save the life of the critically injured.  When you see a doctor with the caduceus on his lapel, think of the Apostle Paul healing the sick through the power of God and pray for the doctor’s skill.  But always remember what symbol brings real healing to your life:  the cross of Christ.

-Charles Peterson

This has been an odd Christmastime for me.  The Christmas music started later this year, as well as starting with an odd assortment as compared to other years; the popular songs didn’t get played until the week before Christmas.  The temperatures were colder, as well as a considerable amount of snow appearing (a white Christmas is great – until you have to drive in it).  It also seemed that people were far more stressed out this year than last, with retailers worried about how the country’s economic woes will affect their rather thin profits and the drivers on the road demonstrating their less charitable side.  I know this is all anecdotal, but this is what has been going on for me.So, in the midst of all of this, I have been retreating into the Christmas spirit.  No, not into the fat guy in a red suit, but into the hymns and story to which the season is dedicated:  the birth of Christ.  One of the best known, and most illustrative of the true Christmas spirit is Charles Wesley’s “Hark! The herald angels sing”; its first verse is:

Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King; Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”  Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With th’angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

In opening this way, the song is proclaiming the true meaning of Christmas:  celebrating the birth of Jesus, the true king and reconciler of God and man.  I have, in the past, written about this identification of the “peace on earth” with “God and sinners reconciled”, but this year what stands out to me the most is the “join the triumph of the skies” line.  With this I am reminded of the Bible stories concerning Christ’s birth.I am reminded of the Magi, who saw a star in the sky and followed it to where Jesus lay:

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.  He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”  After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.  And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.  (Matthew 2:7-12 NIV)

I am reminded of the Shepherds, who heard of the birth from an angel and went to see for themselves:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  (Luke 2:8-15 NIV)

But then I think a little more and I realize what this line really means:

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.  They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.  “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”  (Acts 1:9-11 NIV)

For this year it has become painfully clear that America is reaping what it has sown.  Americans are obsessed with material gain, so we are eviscerating our economic security for our immediate convenience and comfort.  Americans are afraid of getting cheated, so we are fighting over toys and putting others at risk on the roads simply out of fear of losing.  But Christmas is about the triumph of Jesus over this world, and over death itself, and the fact that his triumph is our triumph if we believe in him and trust in his word.  And that is something our nation should definitely rise in joyful celebration of.

-Charles Peterson

I was watching Sci-Fi Science, a show featuring theoretical physicist and author Michio Kaku, and I had a startling insight into the big difference between those who place their faith in God and those who place their faith in “science”.  The episode was about the science behind teleportation devices in science fiction; a hypothetical device which could scan, transmit, and fabricate a person was visualized.  The scenario was that a person could step into a machine in New York, be scanned and analyzed at the atomic level, and then the data would be sent to Tokyo where an exact copy would be produced. 

Now the obvious problem comes up:  what to do with the original!  Does the person then step back out of the device and continue on his way?  Or does that person then need to be destroyed so that only one version of the person exists?  At the end of the show they had some interviews with people in the crowd at the convention where this was discussed.  One person cheerfully said that he hoped he would be able to talk to his copy before he (the original) was killed.  REALLY?!?  But this is the “Aha!” moment that I had:  the sanctity of individual human life is bound together with the belief that God created man in his image.  Those who reject that truth find themselves contemplating (or even rationalizing) horrendous things.

If man is not made in the image of God, but rather evolved from a common ancestor with the Apes, then morality is merely a delusion and a product of our cooperative instinct.  Those who hold to this belief have in the past justified:

Eugenics programs – controlling who breeds with whom in order to improve the species (who lives and who dies is the end result of these initiatives)Abortion – disposal of unwanted or unhealthy fetuses (not called babies, of course)Right-to-die – assisted suicideEuthanasia – disposal of unwanted or unhealthy individualsAnimal Liberation – the granting of coequal status between humans and animals (some proponents even go into areas of human/animal intimacy)

Of course most who reject Christianity in favor of this new religion of naturalism do not realize that it is a religion (complete with holy texts and ordained priesthood) and they certainly do not understand the end result of their beliefs.  But it is easier than getting up on Sunday, going to church, and hearing about the changes that God requires in their lives.Not surprisingly God has a different viewpoint:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  (Genesis 1:26-28 NIV)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”  (Matthew 6:25-27 NIV)

God said he made man in his image, in his likeness, and that he was given dominion over the other creatures and the all the earth before he was even made!  God wanted man to fill the earth and to subdue it.  And Jesus said that God did not create the world and then just walk away, but rather takes care even of feeding the birds of the air, and because of this we know God will take care of us because we are more important!

Men continue to reject God and instead they make up notions and cling to worthless beliefs.  In the past, parents sacrificed their children to stone and wood idols; today parents are sacrificing their children on the altars of convenience and ideology.  But we who believe in Christ Jesus know that the God in whose image we were made will one day put an end to those notions and beliefs.  The big difference is that our God is real.

-Charles Peterson

It is no secret that the internet is a vitally integrated part of our daily lives.  Everyone does their banking through the internet – those who still walk into their bank’s local branch office and still send paper checks through the mail, who think “but I don’t use the internet,” would be surprised to learn their funds are transmitted electronically.  Most of us gladly embrace the internet.  I remember the pre-email days and shudder at the thought of how slowly information was disseminated throughout organizations.  I love being able to research any topic I want to from the comfort of my home; I love being able to sit with my daughters and pull up a video of an elephant and teach them about that particular animal by simply performing a quick Google search.  The internet is extremely useful and necessary in our modern lives.

The internet is useful for criminals as well.  The FBI, the US Military, and numerous other agencies are struggling to cope with the myriad of threats in the “cyber” realm.  Companies such as McAfee and Norton strive to stay ahead of hackers.  Local police. teachers, and parents try to cope with children who are being exposed to dangers that didn’t exist five years ago (who ever heard of teens emailing pornographic videos of themselves via cell phones?), and predators that reach them through instant messaging and Facebook.  When the danger lurks around every corner, but in such a way as to seem benign, it can be hard to not feel overwhelmed.

Christians in America are facing dangers from sources that, like child predators on the internet, seem to lurk around every corner and seem capable of reaching into our very midst.  From the atheist lies of the Secular Progressives to the violent intolerance of the Islamic Fundamentalists, and even the internally compromising threat of the Liberal Christians, Biblical Christianity is under a constant siege.

Secular Progressives are unbelievers who generally scoff at any substantive belief in God and view belief in the Bible with particular scorn.  They are often like Richard Dawkins (author of the book “The God Delusion”) who has the following view:

“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.”  (Richard Dawkins, http://richarddawkins.net/quotes)

They often attack believers for using faith as a cop-out, but do not accept the fact that they are users of faith just as much as Christians!  Both creationists and evolutionists have the same facts from real science (based on observation and measurement), but they come to vastly different conclusions based on their respective core beliefs:  creationists believe the universe was created by God through supernatural means, and evolutionists believe the universe arose through purely natural means.  Neither belief is provable by science, rather each belief is the filter through which each group interprets the scientific data.

Islamic Fundamentalists are idolaters who worship false gods and make war on all those who live near them.  The history of Islam is one of blood and fire, having spread through invasion and conquest, converting through torture and threats of murder.  This so-called religion of peace is currently writing its name in the 21^st century in blood and tears through Jihadist suicide bombers and publicly broadcasted beheadings.  They are among those who try hardest to persecute the church globally, and try to intimidate her domestically. 

Attacks from without are bad enough, but perhaps the most severe damage that has been done to the church in America has come from attacks from within.  There has been a movement within Christianity that is decidedly worldly in nature:  Liberal Christianity.  While it has taken many forms and assumed many names, it’s fundamental purpose is to redefine faith from a literal belief in the Bible to a figurative understanding of the scriptures.  Whether simply compromising with “science” by accepting the universe is billions of years old (so Genesis chapters one and two must mean something other than God creating the earth in six days), or by denying the existence of the spiritual realms and labeling sacred texts as “allegorical,” these insider attacks do what outsiders could never do:  they take Christians’ eyes off of God and put them on man.

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.  Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.  Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.  Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.  (Psalm 105:1-4 NIV)

We cannot control what goes on around us, but we can keep the inside pure.  When danger lurks near and we are clearly beset on all sides from those that seek our demise, we know that there is one to whom we can turn.  God is ever faithful and will always work out what is best for us who love him.

-Charles Peterson

As our country faces turbulent economic times, with unemployment exceeding ten percent and a growing concern over the weakening of our currency, it is important to examine America’s choice in hope and change.  It is interesting to note that the states that have been hardest hit by budget shortfalls and higher than average unemployment rates such as Michigan, California, and New York are also states with lower than average worship attendance and charitable giving.  They are also states that tend to vote for more government control in individual lives and are generally proponents of agendas such as the mainstreaming of homosexuality and the abortion movement.  This is not to say that the states that tend to vote against these agendas have escaped the economic woes, but they do have lower than average unemployment rates; these states also tend to have higher than average worship attendance and charitable giving.

Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness.  Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money.  Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, “Is not the LORD among us?  No disaster will come upon us.”  Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.  (Micah 3:9-12 NIV)

Our nation was founded on Christian principles and a strong belief in limited government and individual responsibility.  Over the last century we have wandered from our founding beliefs and have increasingly rejected God and turned to the government to protect us in troubling times.  Because of this, our schools have become battlegrounds and our courthouses have become dens of corruption.  When times are good, we bask in the glory of democracy and human achievement; when times are bad, we turn to the government for our salvation.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.  Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.  (Proverbs 3:5-10 NIV)

This country’s biggest problem is that the Church has not trusted in God but has turned to the world for hope and faith.  When Christians do not look to God for guidance, but instead accept worldly principles, they cannot expect divine rescue from the worldly consequences!  Too many in the Church have abandoned the principle of sola scriptura (Scripture Alone), and have accepted any number of manmade things to have equal or better authority than the Bible; much of the time they have seized upon the belief in “science” to reinterpret the Bible (such as deistic evolution and the Big Bang theory).  God’s people have become wise in their own eyes and have lost the fear of the LORD and have embraced evil.

But God’s people can turn this around.  We can seek out God through his word; we can apply God’s rule in our lives, and we can tell others about him.  When we vote, we must vote for the candidate most likely to steer the nation back towards God; if no such candidate exists, we should vote for the candidate least likely to interfere with our Christian pursuits.  We need to become involved in our neighborhoods and shine the light of God’s word to our fellow Americans.  But you cannot shine forth the light of the word if you are ignorant of what that word says.

We must seek God and read his word, applying it in our lives and teaching our neighbors and coworkers the Gospel message.  And when worldly problems arise, we need to turn to God for sustenance instead of turning to government.  As lean times come upon us, government becomes increasingly useless; people in need are looking for help and direction.  Let us make sure that we are prepared to show them the God who is leading us through famine towards eternal prosperity.

-Charles Peterson

There once was a man named John.  He was very successful as an entrepreneur, establishing many business ventures and building vast wealth.  Throughout his life he was guided by his Christian values, learning at an early age to give a portion of what he made and attributing his success to God.  His wealth was made through providing benefit to his customers and he used his wealth to fund research that cured disease and established many educational trusts.  This man was John D. Rockefeller.

There is a man named George.  He is very successful as an investor, making a vast wealth trading currency and timing market changes (which included a felony conviction for insider trading).  He has been guided by his atheist values as seen by voicing a disbelief in God and exhibiting patent disdain for America’s founding principles.  He made his wealth without producing any benefit and used his wealth to fund socialist political activism, drug decriminalization, and assisted suicide legislation.  This man is George Soros.

Both of these men amassed large fortunes; the differences lie in how they made those fortunes, what they did with those fortunes, and to whom they credited their success.  Americans have developed a very skewed viewpoint on prosperity since the days of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov) the 2008 poverty threshold for a single person was $11,201 in annual income.  In comparison the average for the world’s fifteen poorest nations yields a poverty threshold of $456 in annual income (according to www.nextbillion.net).  So in perspective, an individual living in absolutely impoverished circumstances in America is over twenty-four times richer than someone living in the poorest nations.  This is just considering annual income; you could consider access to public services, education, healthcare, personal freedoms, and employment and you would see the American (who is living in relative squalor) possessing a wealth unattainable by even many of the wealthy in the world.

But because Americans are easily duped by politicians and entertainers who pander to the inherent envy in the hearts of man, they often fall for the class warfare rhetoric that seeks to use governmental coercion to steal personal property and wealth to give to others who have neither earned it nor hold any legitimate claim to it.  There is a sense of entitlement in this nation that seems to permeate much of society.  America possesses a healthcare system that is the envy of the world, but which is in danger of being destroyed by politicians that seek to rework our nation’s values.  Why is this happening?  Because Americans have forsaken Godly principles of hard work and self-discipline, as well as having rejected the ultimate authority and providential care of the Almighty God.

Most people on this planet do not possess the basic religious freedoms America’s Founding Fathers declared as being “inalienable”.  But modern Americans seem more than willing to discard the freedom to worship God in order to satisfy radical Godless zealots.  These radicals are continually seeking to rewrite history in order to secularize American founding principles.  They would be largely ineffective except that God’s people are by and large crippled by political correctness and cowed by the threat of being called intolerant.

But as always, when oppression falls upon them the Children of God eventually cry out for deliverance.  Christians have been slow to do this until recently because we were living in times of plenty and so we entertained the notion that we had to feel guilty for our prosperity, so the radicals were well received.  Lately, however, times have become leaner and the Christians are waking up to visions of what is happening to America.  Wouldn’t it be better to keep perspective in the times of plenty?

Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die:  keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD’ or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.  (Proverbs 30:7-9 NIV)

John D. Rockefeller has long been demonized as a “Robber Baron,” even though his wealth came from honest business, he was a consummate philanthropist, and he gave credit to God for his success.  George Soros built his wealth on falsehoods and lies, denies God, and advocates the immoral governmental theft of personal wealth and property in order to foster his own Godless agenda.  In times of plenty, how will you react:  like Rockefeller or like Soros?  Will you disown and dishonor God, or will you praise him with your life?

-Charles Peterson

The world was coming to an end.  This was due not to some cataclysmic war or staggering epidemic, but because the world was running out of an incredibly vital resource:  oil.  No, not petroleum oil, but whale oil.  This was the middle of the 19^th century, and Yankee Whalers provided products for just about every facet of American life, from lighting and cooking oil to whale bone used in women’s corsets.  And by 1859 these whalers had become so efficient that the whale population dwindled precipitously.  With shortages in every market in the world, what could possibly replace such a crucial resource?  Then Colonel Drake drilled in Titusville, PA and America never looked back.*  Most people cannot conceive of a world without petroleum-based products, and we have today many doomsayers that cry out that life must come to a screeching halt because we are running out of oil.

It is amazing to me that so many people believe that there are only so many resources, and that if one person thrives then another person must starve.  But is that reality?  Socialists teach that this is a world of scarcity, that all wealth comes from oppression of labor forces.  Atheists believe that man is simply a tool-using animal.  And far too many Christians do not realize that their assumptions about life come from the education they received at the hands of Atheist Socialists.

Free market capitalists believe that wealth is created by economic activity and when one person thrives, another person has the chance to prosper as well.  Is this reality?  Yes, but only in light of a creator.  It should come as no surprise that a nation founded on Christianity is the nation that provided the greatest economic prosperity in the history of the world; it should also not surprise us when that same nation stumbles economically as it rejects that same Christianity.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.  (Genesis 1:31 NIV)

Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.  (Deuteronomy 5:33 NIV)

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!  It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.  (Proverbs 6:6-8 NIV)

God made the Earth (with man in it) a VERY GOOD place.  He created man to have dominion over the Earth, and gave man creativity when he made man in his own image.  He also created us to follow his ways, which include industriousness, righteousness, and love for God and man.  So the Socialists are wrong and the Capitalists who reject God are fools.  This world was created as a world of abundance precisely to show us the love of the Father and to show us his power. 

No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money.  Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  …  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  (Matthew 6:24-34 NIV)

A Godless Capitalist seeks only after money, but a Godly Capitalist seeks to trust in God and to be industrious, laboring in this world while laboring in the Kingdom.  There is no inherent righteousness attached to poverty, but rather the righteous are unattached to wealth (either in having it or lacking it).  For the righteous recognize that God created this world of plenty to show us that while his arm is long and his power mighty, his mercy and generosity are greater still.  The Children of God should marvel at the gracious and bounteous world the Father has given us, knowing that if we will learn his ways and abide in his light, we will inherit a world that far surpasses this one.  And so, opportunities exist all around us to create wealth, both earthly and heavenly.  I urge you to do both, using the earthly wealth in ways that will create the heavenly wealth.

-Charles Peterson

*  Pilzer, Paul Zane. God Wants You To Be Rich. New York: Fireside, 1995. 

Last month a high school student in China was expelled from school (which would mean being barred from college admissions) because he refused to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ.  Although seventeen-year-old Chen Le was readmitted nine days later, it was not because he changed his mind; in fact, Chen Le readily signed statements confessing his Christian faith.  The Chinese authorities backed down due to international pressure and allowed the student to return to school.

This past summer twelve Christians were murdered in Nigeria by members of an Islamic extremist group because they refused to renounce Christ.  Numerous other stories exist (mostly outside the mainstream media) of Christians around the world being persecuted for their faith, but refusing to give up Christ.  Organizations such as Voice of the Martyrs (www.persecution.com) broadcast these stories that do not seem to interest the Associated Press and others in the mainstream media; ironically, the AP did feature a story about the concern voiced by Human Rights Watch (a New York City-based organization) that the leader of the Nigerian group above (the one that beheaded Christians for not renouncing their faith) had been unlawfully murdered and not “shot while trying to escape” as the police claimed.  Human Rights Watch seemed unconcerned about the twelve beheaded Christians.

Christians around the world are called upon to make the choice between life and death, liberty and freedom, and their decision is centered on whether or not they will remain true to their faith in Jesus.  In America, we are rarely called upon to make such drastic decisions.  Most of the time, our tests come in seemingly innocuous packages such as keeping quiet about our faith or accepting as true the equivalence of different religions.  But the test is no less important just because the Earthly stakes are different!

So do not be afraid of them.  There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.  What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.  Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.  Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.  (Matthew 10:26-33 NIV)

Why did Jesus speak this strongly about apostasy?  After all, if Chen Le had simply kept his religious views to himself, what would the effect have been on China?  Or if the twelve Christians had pretended to renounce Christ and later recanted, would that have been better than them dying?  This is how worldly people think.  But there is more going on than what we can see!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  (Ephesians 6:10-13 NIV)

We are at war, but not with a foe that we can see nor is the battle one that we can sense.  We fight with unseen forces, and we may never know that an engagement has even happened; but the outcome of the battle is terribly important!  Look at the story of Job.  There is no indication that he ever is told why the terrible events in chapters one and two happen.  But there is no doubt that God triumphed over Satan in the life of Job.

We cannot be faithless in our dealings with the faithful God!  We must remain true to the calling, trusting that the forces arrayed against us will fail if we trust and obey Jesus.  People who enlist in the US military take an oath in which they pledge to “bear true faith and allegiance to the [Constitution of the United States]”.  How much more should Christians bear true faith and allegiance to the Word of God? 

-Charles Peterson

The source of a great deal of consternation for believers in the Biblical account of creation (called “Young-Earth Creationists”) is radiometric dating, known colloquially as “carbon dating”.  From this radiometric dating, we are often given ages of objects (usually fossils or sedimentary rock formations) as being millions of years old.  The cause for dismay for Bible-believers is, of course, that if something is millions of years old, then the Earth had to have its origin more than 6,000 years ago.  Adding to this is the bandwagon of the compromisers (called “Old-Earth Creationists”) that uses this info to claim “see, we knew the Bible was figurative and not literal!”  So we have two groups (who despise each other, by the way) who unite and tell us that the Bible is wrong about creation:  the atheists and the “Old-Earth Creationists”.

The atheists look at the world and claim that “things have always been thus” and therefore assume that when they examine the radiometric dating experimental results they can accurately assume that conditions prevalent today have always existed; these atheists we will call the “Greeks”.  They believe that there is no God (or that if there is one, that God is not a factor in creation) and thus all creation must have come about through purely natural methods.  They also believe that, since those methods are natural, they must be unchangeable laws similar to gravity.  They also assume that when they date a rock, the amounts of the isotopes they are measuring (for example: Argon and Potassium) are solely produced by radioactive decay (in this case, Potassium decaying into Argon) and no other forces (such as water leeching Potassium in or out, or Argon gas escaping) are acting upon the equation.  It is these assumptions that allow for absolutely hysterical anomalies, such as wood dated by the Carbon method at 45 thousand years old having been buried (and charred by) a lava flow dated by the Potassium-Argon method at 45 million years old!

The “Old-Earth Creationists” believe in science as believed by atheists, and are therefore embarrassed by the Biblical account of creation and so work to redefine the Bible so that their understanding of it is in accord with secular beliefs; these we will call the “Jews”.  They want to appear learned and respectable, and they view the Biblical account with scorn and derision.  They think, “obviously the Earth cannot be only 6,000 years old, because the rock layers and other evidence tell us it is older.”  But it is not the evidence that tells us anything of the sort, but rather it is the secular interpretation of those views that tells us anything about age.  The facts are simply facts:  there are layers of sediment all over the Earth, containing fossilized remains of animals and plants that once were alive and now are dead.  But they (these “Jews”) want to identify with the secular worldview, and so they believe in millions of years and God-directed evolution, heedless of the theological implications (such as death being the result of God’s work instead of the result of man’s sin).

So how do Bible-believers cope with this unholy union?  By doing what we do in all situations:  look to the Bible.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written:  “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”  Where is the wise man?  Where is the scholar?  Where is the philosopher of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified:  a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.  (1 Corinthians 1:18-25 NIV)

We believe that Christ died for the ungodly, to take upon himself the penalty of sin (death) and to free us to become the Children of God.  Christ did not go to the cross to defeat God’s plan!  But if you believe (as the “Jews” do) that God directed evolution, then millions of years of death existed (such as several mass-extinctions) because God made it so!  No, the Cross remains a stumbling block for the new “Jews” just as it was for the old.  And as for the “Greeks”, they are the same in viewing it as foolishness.  But for us, those called by God, the Crucified Christ is still the wisdom and power of God!

-Charles Peterson

Twenty-three-year-old James Gadiel died in the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center.  His father Peter Gadiel is now fighting with his town’s officials to have a plaque with the words “murdered by Muslim terrorists” erected in memorial.  The town isn’t resisting the erection of the memorial plaque, but rather the controversial statement laying the blame for James Gadiel’s death at the feet of Muslim terrorists.  The fear is that Muslims would be offended.

At the same time, the fatal shooting of Imam Abdullah El-Amin by the FBI has stirred up anger in the Muslim community.  Why?  Because this Imam was an innocent scholar or clergyman?  No, he was a bloodthirsty domestic terrorist who trained his followers to kill cops and had goals of tearing down the fabric of America.  Some in the Muslim community simply do not like any resistance to Islamic activity, even when that activity is illegal and evil.

So, we have two examples (out of many possible ones) of a general need by Muslims to suppress the truth about Islam:  it is a brutal, oppressive, and sinister force creeping through the fabric of our country, with the aim of so totally infiltrating our society that it is impossible to resist an Islamic takeover.  Does this sound paranoid?  Look at Western Europe.  In the last fifty years they have seen this infiltration take place, with the result that they now have large groups of their populations that seek to replace their constitutions with Islamic religious law.

Our nation seems to be terrified to offend Muslims, but has no problem embracing the forces dedicated to wiping out Christian influences!  Crosses in jars of urine is protected free speech, but a monument of the Ten Commandments is offensive.  Textbooks still contain the fraudulent (and sometimes even racist) evolutionary theories that mankind evolved from animals, but even to mention that the universe appears to be designed by an intelligence is offensive.  A Christian seventeen-year-old girl who runs away from a Muslim family was sent back despite fears of violent reprisals.  I wonder if a girl from a Christian family ran away and converted to Islam, would she be returned to her family?

Our nation is gripped by a need to deny, at any cost, the truth that God is alive, Jesus is his son, the Bible is his word, and without him man is lost in his sins.  But denying the truth has never changed it.  Muslim terrorists DID murder thousands, including James Gadiel.  Imam Abdullah El-Amin WAS a criminal who died because he fired on FBI agents.  Those things are fact.  But more important is that the truth-deniers will have to face the truth one day.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:9-11 NIV)

Amen.

-Charles Peterson